104 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
the bed above it by a thin parting of fine sand. They are remark- 
able for their unmutilated condition, lying there with their slender 
arms, even to the extreme points, in the position which they must 
have naturally held during life, thus showing an entire absence of 
that spontaneous dismemberment which is so characteristic of the 
OphiuridcB when dying under any prolonged irritation, and indicat- 
ing some sudden cause of deprivation of life, such as we may sup- 
pose to result from an irruption of fresh water into the part of the 
sea inhabited by them. 
None of the specimens I obtained, however, were sufficiently 
well preserved to enable me to make out all their characters as 
completely as I could have wished, the nature of the clay in which 
they were imbedded being apparently not suited to the preservation 
of the more delicate structures. The oral surface of the disc, espe- 
cially, was in no case retained so perfectly as to allow of the mouth 
or the disposition of the plates of this part of the animal being 
observed. It was only in some instances that traces of the spines 
were visible, and then almost the only indications left were their 
impressions in the surrounding clay. 
It is a curious and interesting fact, that not only did all the 
specimens found belong to a single species, but that not a vestige 
of a shell, or of any other organism, could be detected in any part 
of the clay which I had an opportunity of examining. 
The following gentlemen were admitted Fellows of the 
Society : — 
The Hon. Lord Oemidale. 
.Joseph D. Everett, M.A., Professor of Mathematics and Natural 
Philosophy, King’s College, Windsor, Nova Scotia. 
The following donations to the Library were announced : — 
Almanaque Nautico para 1864, calculado de orden de S. M. en el 
Observatorio de marina de la ciudad de San Fernando. Cadiz. 
1862. 8 VO. — From the Director of the Observatory. 
Proceedings of the Linnean Society. Vol. YII., No. 25, 8vo. 
—From the Society. 
The Canadian Journal of Industry, Science, and Art. February, 
1863. 8vo. — From the Canadian Institute. 
