Keen, and which he thought worthy of notice because of the peculiar growth which he observed encrusting them. These insignificant-looking shells, which would have been thrown away as rubbish by a less discerning man than our friend, Mr. Marrat, proved to be of great interest, for the encrusting growth was found to be the calcareous polypary of a new species of Hydractinia, and thus was discovered a recent form having a calcareous skeleton. As all recent forms hitherto observed had chitinous skeletons, it was presumed that the fossil Hydractinia pliocena from the older Pliocene, whose composition is calcareous, had originally been of a chitinous nature, and that the horny composition had been replaced by carbonate of lime, but now that living specimens with calcareous skeletons have been found, it seems probable that Hydractinia pliocena was also calcareous in its living state.

The new calcareous species was described and figured in the Annals in the first number of 1877, by Mr. H. J. Carter, in his interesting paper "On the close relationship of Hydractinia, Parkeria, and Stromatopora," and one of Mr. Marrat's little specimens, shewing a bifurcated branching process, has been thought, by Dr. Steinman, of Munich, to whom it was shewn by Mr. Carter, worthy to be figured in Palæontographica, amongst the illustrations of his paper "On the fossil Hydrozoa," in which are enumerated all the species allied to Hydractinia, both living and fossil, that have been identified. Thus this unattractive-looking little specimen has found its way into the most valuable and elaborately illustrated scientific Continental publication of the day.

The discovery of these new species of Hydractinia, and the further knowledge of the skeleton structure of the group thereby obtained, is interesting, not only because it has made it possible to place some recent doubtful forms in their true position in the Animal Kingdom, but also because it throws

additional light on some of the early fossil Corals and Millepores.

In 1865, Louis Agassiz had the good fortune to see the animal of Millepora alcicornis (the common ginger coral), and though it only shewed itself for a brief hour, yet he saw it sufficiently long to enable him to make complete figures of the whole of it (Contributions to the Natural History of the United States, vol. iii., plate 15), and to see that it was not a coral at all, but a true Hydrozoon, very nearly related to the Hydractiniida. His own account of the discovery is as follows:

They (the Millepores) were for a long time supposed to be Polyps, and I had shared in this opinion, till during the winter of 1857, while pursuing my investigations on the Coral Reefs of Florida, one of the Millepores revealed itself to me in its true character of Acaleph. It must be remembered that they belong to the Hydroid group of Acalephs, of which our common Jelly-fishes do not give a correct idea. It is by their soft parts alone - those parts which are seen only when these animals are alive and fully open — that their Acalephian character can be perceived, and this accounts for their being so long accepted as Polyps when studied in the dry coral stock. Nothing could exceed my astonishment when for the first time I saw such an animal fully expanded, and found it to be a true Acaleph. It is exceedingly difficult to obtain a view of them in this state, for at any approach they draw themselves in and remain closed to all investigation. Only once, for a short hour, I had this opportunity; during that time one of these little creatures revealed to me its whole structure, as if to tell me once for all the story of its existence through all the successive epochs from the dawn of creation till now, and then withdrew. With my most patient watching I have never been able to see one of them open again. But to establish the fact that one of the Corals

represented from the earliest period, and indeed far more numerous in the beginning than any other, was in truth no Polyp, but an Acaleph, the glimpse I had was all-sufficient. It came out as if to bear witness of its class, as if to say, 'We too were among the hosts of living beings with which God first peopled His earth.'" (Methods of Study, page 170.)

The discovery of an encrusting species of Hydractinia with a Calcareous polypary lends additional interest to the statement of Agassiz just referred to, made some twenty years ago; observations which, though never refuted or denied, but confirmed by Count Pourtalés, who also saw the living animal, have, almost to the present time, been accepted by naturalists with a good deal of reservation and hesitation. Mr. Moseley's studies of the living Millepores, made during the voyages of the "Challenger," however, confirm the observations of Agassiz as regards this particular family.

The increased knowledge now derived from the study of the skeleton structure of the living Hydractiniide and Milleporida, throws further light on the groups of fossils from the Tertiary, Secondary, and even Primary deposits, held to be represented in the present day by these families.

In a paper just published in the Annals, Mr. Carter shews the identity in structure of Millepora alcicornis with the Stromatopora from the Devonian and Silurian formations; and although Drs. Nicholson and Murie, so lately as December last, read a paper on Stromatopora before the Linnean Society, in which " they discard the notion of its alliance with the Millepores, or belonging to the Corals, Hydrozoa, or Foraminifera, and constitute for the Stromatoporids a new order of calcareous sponges, Stromatoporidea," the structure of Stromatopora cannot be identified with that of any living sponge; and the opinion of Mr. Carter, who has had greater opportunity of studying the sponges than

any other naturalist or geologist, must be held to have the greater weight, whilst his figures and illustrations of the structures of the different forms in question speak for themselves.

Mr. MARRAT exhibited the shells referred to in the following communication, then read by him to the Meeting :LIST OF SHELLS FROM FUCA STRAITS AND CAPE FLATTERY, COLLECTED AND PRESENTED TO THE LIVERPOOL FREE PUBLIC MUSEUM, BY DR. DAVID WALKER, CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY.

By F. P. MARRAT.

A collection of shells, having special reference to scientific details, such as the one sent to the Liverpool Museum by Dr. David Walker, must always prove of interest to the Conchologist. The difficulty of obtaining correct information with regard to the exact localities of species has been felt by almost every Conchologist, and we find many inaccuracies in our best works on the subject. One of the most marked peculiarities in the shells of the district of Fuca Straits and Cape Flattery is the extensive range of localities recorded for shells quoted in this list by different authors. Thus :Neptunea lyrata, Martyn, is stated to be from King George's Sound, New Holland, by Reeve, on the authority of Chemnitz. The Callianax biplicata, Sow., from the North of Japan and Australia. The Lagena oregonensis, Say, from Fuca Strait is simply given as North America, although the name might have pointed to a near locality. The Trophon crispus, Couth., and the Pteronotus foliatus, Gmel., as well as a shell about which much uncertainty formerly existed, the Purpura (Stramonita) cateracta, Chemn., are very interesting forms. The crispate Purpuræ of this district, as well as many

other forms from other localities, are simply varieties of our extremely variable Purpura lapillus, Linn. The Olivella bætica, Carp., although recorded as a distinct species, in that author's list of the shells of this district (Smithsonian Report by Carpenter), is unquestionably the Olivella alectona, Duclos. Conchologists all over the world are beginning to feel the necessity of publishing district lists in the transactions of their local scientific societies, and if private collectors would lend their aid by recording the various stations from which they receive specimens, the accuracy of the information regarding geographical distribution would be greatly improved.

One of the earliest pioneers and naturalists of North America was the late Thomas Nuttall, of Nutgrove, near Liverpool, a gentleman well known to many of us, and of whom a biographical notice is given in the Proceedings of this Society by the Rev. H. H. Higgins. Mr. Nuttall's name occurs four times in the following list :-