1878.J 



Mr. T. Davidson. On Brachiopotla. 



429 



opoda before the middle of last century ; and even during the period 

 extending from 1750 to 1800, the information relating to the recent 

 species was, with some exceptions, meagre and often unsatisfactory. 



A Brachiopod, until within the last fifty years, was considered a 

 great rarity in all collections, and no one could boast of possessing 

 more than a very limited number of species and specimens. Much 

 uncertainty was also felt as to their nature, and the position they 

 should occupy among the Invertebrata. They were generally sup- 

 posed to be referable to the genus Anomia, and were very quaintly 

 described by some of the earlier naturalists. Several more serious 

 and better informed observers appeared soon after 1753, such as 

 Linne, Pennant, Miiller, Lamanon, Pallas, Grundler, and a few others, 

 who were able, in a measure, to prepare the way for the important 

 discoveries reserved for the more favoured naturalists of the present 

 century. 



The animal of the Brachiopod had attracted the attention of Pen- 

 nant in 1766, Grundler in 1774, Miiller in 1776, Poli in 1791, 

 Lamanon and Cuvier in 1797; but no regular anatomical dissections 

 had been executed, and their observations seemed, in a great mea- 

 sure, to be limited to the labial appendages, mantle, and some other 

 minor details. 



This most important inquiry was, however, subsequently admira- 

 bly followed out by such excellent zoologists and anatomists as 

 Cuvier, Owen, Huxley, Vogt, Macdonald, Hancock, Gratiolet, Lacaze- 

 Duthiers, King, E. Deslongchamps, and others, to whose works the 

 reader is referred, as it would not be possible in the limited space 

 devoted to the description of the species dredged in the ' Challenger ' 

 Expedition, to write a treatise on the history of the class, nor to refer 

 to the fossil genera and species, which vastly outnumber those inhabit- 

 ing the present seas. 



Restricting ourselves, therefore, to the recent species, we may ob- 

 serve that the correct knowledge we now possess with respect to their 

 geographical and bathymetrical distribution is mainly due to the 

 numerous Governmental and private dredging expeditions carried out 

 during the last forty years. Before that period, very few reliable data 

 were in our possession; and as these dredging expeditions proceed, 

 the more will our knowledge become extended. 



The admirable report of Professor E. Forbes, tc On the Mollusca 

 and Radiata of the iEgean Sea," published by the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, for 1843, shadowed forth the im- 

 portant results that might be obtained by well conducted and equipped 

 Expeditions ; but even now we are wanting in information with respect 

 to the bathymetrical distribution of some twenty-six of the known 

 living species. 



In his excellent memoir, " Uber die Wohnsitze der Brachiopoden," 



