iiu 
XlfllOLTiS 
Xciv fr( (iiid SjH'cics ')f Amiilii-pods. 
I had at first su|ipusvd that the* armatuvi.' of spines upon the 
inner surfaees of the hasos of the seeond gnathoj)od (id. Mill, 
11^) was a distinctive characterj as it was not inentia vl ;)y (.isilLOii 
as oec uri'ing in l\ icrstialifi. I find, however, that it is present in 
that sj)ecies also, but is aia-ent in V. sct<hHa. Of tlu'^e tJiree s^jecies, 
all of wiiich are obviously closely related, U- ajj'inis may be regarded 
as tlie least modified, still contijiuing' to lead a life in more or 
less (i])en water. The ■water courses it inhabits are, however, 
(juite liable to dry up, ami a habit of burrowing lias l)eeii formed 
resulting, in tlie eourse of time, in the partial obsolescence of the 
eyes. It is highly probalile that in more permaiunit waters a 
still U'ss mudiiied form y<‘t remains to be discovered in which the 
eyi's are well developed iind functional. 
['foctvjia iccfitraUs, judging fiom its I>!eached a 2 :)pearancc ami 
practically eyeless state, is a truly subterranean form probably 
(kodved from Tb affiiiis ami found at the surfa<'e iio'w, only when 
■waslied u]j by the stronger llowmg of the springs in excej)tionally 
wet weather, bb sefosa a|)iMr 'ni|y leading a life in surface water, 
at the t)i'esent time, is rema' h ibU' for the striking development 
of the setae which are jnesiimabiy s(nisory. It is to l)e regarded 
as a biijid s])ecies l)ecomiiig iiadaptc'd to surface conditions and 
may be supjiosed to have beeJi derive-i directly from a surface 
living form rather than from l\ ajf'uils, lacking as it does the 
aniiature of spines on the s of die second gnathopod. It 'would 
a])pear that the genus has its elosi'st afhiiities with Nconipliargus 
but has ijecome modifii'd as a rc'sult of adaj.ttion to burrowing 
habits and subterranean lif<-. it is noteworthy, however, that in 
the Victuriau spi'cies, X ('(,n i pharfins ohrlciti, we have a form prac- 
tically blind wliieh ha.s ji- Vvodheh's;- de[)arted very little from the 
ty['icaJ Neoni]>liargid condition. 
In the reniarkabh^ sex ^listiiiction whicli Uroctcita exhibits and 
also ill tlie condition of its inontli parts, there is shown a wide 
divergence from all existing sjieeies of Naoniphargus. The mouth 
parts, indeed, seem to d.e une .n ari e tb(, e of X '.piiaygiis, to - 
which genus tliere are resemblances, also, in the elongation of the 
carpus of tlie giiathojiods and the sliallowness of the side plates. 
Tile members of tlu- gmius lack, moreover, tlu* dactylar sensory , 
seta, which is so constant a feature in XeonipJiv.vgus- In U. setosa, < 
tliis is found, in a little dcvelojied state, on one appendage only, | 
the second peraeopod. | 
It is of interest that no fewer than five species of blind ' 
Ainj)hi]K)ds and Isooods nvv now known from Western Australia; : 
this manlier wiil almost certainly be considerably increased as ' 
our knowledge is extern led for, in a eonntry such as this, with 
