LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. (continued 2)

On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. By Charles Darwin, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., & F.G.S., and Alfred Wallace, Esq. Communicated by Sir Charles Lyell, F.R.S., F.L.S., and J. D. Hooker, Esq., M.D., V.P.R.S., F.L.S., &c.

[Read July 1st, 1858.]

London, June 30th, 1858.

My Dear Sir,—The accompanying papers, which we have the honour of communicating to the Linnean Society, and which all relate to the same subject, viz. the Laws which affect the Production of Varieties, Races, and Species, contain the results of the investigations of two indefatigable naturalists, Mr. Charles Darwin and Mr. Alfred Wallace.

These gentlemen having, independently and unknown to one another, conceived the same very ingenious theory to account for the appearance and perpetuation of varieties and of specific forms on our planet, may both fairly claim the merit of being original thinkers in this important line of inquiry; but neither of them having published his views, though Mr. Darwin has for many years past been repeatedly urged by us to do so, and both authors having now unreservedly placed their papers in our hands, we think it would best promote the interests of science that a selection from them should be laid before the Linnean Society.

Taken in the order of their dates, they consist of:—

1. Extracts from a MS. work on Species[A], by Mr. Darwin, which was sketched in 1839, and copied in 1844, when the copy was read by Dr. Hooker, and its contents afterwards communicated to Sir Charles Lyell. The first Part is devoted to "The Variation of Organic Beings under Domestication and in their Natural State;" and the second chapter of that Part, from which we propose to read to the Society the extracts referred to, is headed, "On the Variation of Organic Beings in a state of Nature; on the Natural Means of Selection; on the Comparison of Domestic Races and true Species."

2. An abstract of a private letter addressed to Professor Asa Gray, of Boston, U.S., in October 1857, by Mr. Darwin, in which he repeats his views, and which shows that these remained unaltered from 1839 to 1857.

3. An Essay by Mr. Wallace, entitled "On the Tendency of Varieties to depart indefinitely from the Original Type." This was written at Ternate in February 1858, for the perusal of his friend and correspondent Mr. Darwin, and sent to him with the expressed wish that it should be forwarded to Sir Charles Lyell, if Mr. Darwin thought it sufficiently novel and interesting. So highly did Mr. Darwin appreciate the value of the views therein set forth, that he proposed, in a letter to Sir Charles Lyell, to obtain Mr. Wallace's consent to allow the Essay to be published as soon as possible. Of this step we highly approved, provided Mr. Darwin did not withhold from the public, as he was strongly inclined to do (in favour of Mr. Wallace), the memoir which he had himself written on the same subject, and which, as before stated, one of us had perused in 1844, and the contents of which we had both of us been privy to for many years. On representing this to Mr. Darwin, he gave us permission to make what use we thought proper of his memoir, &c.; and in adopting our present course, of presenting it to the Linnean Society, we have explained to him that we are not solely considering the relative claims to priority of himself and his friend, but the interests of science generally; for we feel it to be desirable that views founded on a wide deduction from facts, and matured by years of reflection, should constitute at once a goal from which others may start, and that, while the scientific world is waiting for the appearance of Mr. Darwin's complete work, some of the leading results of his labours, as well as those of his able correspondent, should together be laid before the public.

We have the honour to be yours very obediently, Charles Lyell. Jos. D. Hooker. J. J. Bennett, Esq., Secretary of the Linnean Society.

I. Extract from an unpublished Work on Species, by C. Darwin, Esq., consisting of a portion of a Chapter entitled, "On the Variation of Organic Beings in a state of Nature; on the Natural Means of Selection; on the Comparison of Domestic Races and true Species."

De Candolle, in an eloquent passage, has declared that all nature is at war, one organism with another, or with external nature. Seeing the contented face of nature, this may at first well be doubted; but reflection will inevitably prove it to be true. The war, however, is not constant, but recurrent in a slight degree at short periods, and more severely at occasional more distant periods; and hence its effects are easily overlooked. It is the doctrine of Malthus applied in most cases with tenfold force. As in every climate there are seasons, for each of its inhabitants, of greater and less abundance, so all annually breed; and the moral restraint which in some small degree checks the increase of mankind is entirely lost. Even slow-breeding mankind has doubled in twenty-five years; and if he could increase his food with greater ease, he would double in less time. But for animals without artificial means, the amount of food for each species must, on an average, be constant, whereas the increase of all organisms tends to be geometrical, and in a vast majority of cases at an enormous ratio. Suppose in a certain spot there are eight pairs of birds, and that only four pairs of them annually (including double hatches) rear only four young, and that these go on rearing their young at the same rate, then at the end of seven years (a short life, excluding violent deaths, for any bird) there will be 2048 birds, instead of the original sixteen. As this increase is quite impossible, we must conclude either that birds do not rear nearly half their young, or that the average life of a bird is, from accident, not nearly seven years. Both checks probably concur. The same kind of calculation applied to all plants and animals affords results more or less striking, but in very few instances more striking than in man.

Many practical illustrations of this rapid tendency to increase are on record, among which, during peculiar seasons, are the extraordinary numbers of certain animals; for instance, during the years 1826 to 1828, in La Plata, when from drought some millions of cattle perished, the whole country actually swarmed with mice. Now I think it cannot be doubted that during the breeding-season all the mice (with the exception of a few males or females in excess) ordinarily pair, and therefore that this astounding increase during three years must be attributed to a greater number than usual surviving the first year, and then breeding, and so on till the third year, when their numbers were brought down to their usual limits on the return of wet weather. Where man has introduced plants and animals into a new and favourable country, there are many accounts in how surprisingly few years the whole country has become stocked with them. This increase would necessarily stop as soon as the country was fully stocked; and yet we have every reason to believe, from what is known of wild animals, that all would pair in the spring. In the majority of cases it is most difficult to imagine where the checks fall—though generally, no doubt, on the seeds, eggs, and young; but when we remember how impossible, even in mankind (so much better known than any other animal), it is to infer from repeated casual observations what the average duration of life is, or to discover the different percentage of deaths to births in different countries, we ought to feel no surprise at our being unable to discover where the check falls in any animal or plant. It should always be remembered, that in most cases the checks are recurrent yearly in a small, regular degree, and in an extreme degree during unusually cold, hot, dry, or wet years, according to the constitution of the being in question. Lighten any check in the least degree, and the geometrical powers of increase in every organism will almost instantly increase the average number of the favoured species. Nature may be compared to a surface on which rest ten thousand sharp wedges touching each other and driven inwards by incessant blows. Fully to realize these views much reflection is requisite. Malthus on man should be studied; and all such cases as those of the mice in La Plata, of the cattle and horses when first turned out in South America, of the birds by our calculation, &c., should be well considered. Reflect on the enormous multiplying power inherent and annually in action in all animals; reflect on the countless seeds scattered by a hundred ingenious contrivances, year after year, over the whole face of the land; and yet we have every reason to suppose that the average percentage of each of the inhabitants of a country usually remains constant. Finally, let it be borne in mind that this average number of individuals (the external conditions remaining the same) in each country is kept up by recurrent struggles against other species or against external nature (as on the borders of the Arctic regions, where the cold checks life), and that ordinarily each individual of every species holds its place, either by its own struggle and capacity of acquiring nourishment in some period of its life, from the egg upwards; or by the struggle of its parents (in short-lived organisms, when the main check occurs at longer intervals) with other individuals of the same or different species.

But let the external conditions of a country alter. If in a small degree, the relative proportions of the inhabitants will in most cases simply be slightly changed; but let the number of inhabitants be small, as on an island, and free access to it from other countries be circumscribed, and let the change of conditions continue progressing (forming new stations), in such a case the original inhabitants must cease to be as perfectly adapted to the changed conditions as they were originally. It has been shown in a former part of this work, that such changes of external conditions would, from their acting on the reproductive system, probably cause the organization of those beings which were most affected to become, as under domestication, plastic. Now, can it be doubted, from the struggle each individual has to obtain subsistence, that any minute variation in structure, habits, or instincts, adapting that individual better to the new conditions, would tell upon its vigour and health? In the struggle it would have a better chance of surviving; and those of its offspring which inherited the variation, be it ever so slight, would also have a better chance. Yearly more are bred than can survive; the smallest grain in the balance, in the long run, must tell on which death shall fall, and which shall survive. Let this work of selection on the one hand, and death on the other, go on for a thousand generations, who will pretend to affirm that it would produce no effect, when we remember what, in a few years, Bakewell effected in cattle, and Western in sheep, by this identical principle of selection?

To give an imaginary example from changes in progress on an island:—let the organization of a canine animal which preyed chiefly on rabbits, but sometimes on hares, become slightly plastic; let these same changes cause the number of rabbits very slowly to decrease, and the number of hares to increase; the effect of this would be that the fox or dog would be driven to try to catch more hares: his organization, however, being slightly plastic, those individuals with the lightest forms, longest limbs, and best eyesight, let the difference be ever so small, would be slightly favoured, and would tend to live longer, and to survive during that time of the year when food was scarcest; they would also rear more young, which would tend to inherit these slight peculiarities. The less fleet ones would be rigidly destroyed. I can see no more reason to doubt that these causes in a thousand generations would produce a marked effect, and adapt the form of the fox or dog to the catching of hares instead of rabbits, than that greyhounds can be improved by selection and careful breeding. So would it be with plants under similar circumstances. If the number of individuals of a species with plumed seeds could be increased by greater powers of dissemination within its own area (that is, if the check to increase fell chiefly on the seeds), those seeds which were provided with ever so little more down, would in the long run be most disseminated; hence a greater number of seeds thus formed would germinate, and would tend to produce plants inheriting the slightly better-adapted down[B].

Besides this natural means of selection, by which those individuals are preserved, whether in their egg, or larval, or mature state, which are best adapted to the place they fill in nature, there is a second agency at work in most unisexual animals, tending to produce the same effect, namely, the struggle of the males for the females. These struggles are generally decided by the law of battle, but in the case of birds, apparently, by the charms of their song, by their beauty or their power of courtship, as in the dancing rock-thrush of Guiana. The most vigorous and healthy males, implying perfect adaptation, must generally gain the victory in their contests. This kind of selection, however, is less rigorous than the other; it does not require the death of the less successful, but gives to them fewer descendants. The struggle falls, moreover, at a time of year when food is generally abundant, and perhaps the effect chiefly produced would be the modification of the secondary sexual characters, which are not related to the power of obtaining food, or to defence from enemies, but to fighting with or rivalling other males. The result of this struggle amongst the males may be compared in some respects to that produced by those agriculturists who pay less attention to the careful selection of all their young animals, and more to the occasional use of a choice mate.

II. Abstract of a Letter from C. Darwin, Esq., to Prof. Asa Gray, Boston, U.S., dated Down, September 5th, 1857.

1. It is wonderful what the principle of selection by man, that is the picking out of individuals with any desired quality, and breeding from them, and again picking out, can do. Even breeders have been astounded at their own results. They can act on differences inappreciable to an uneducated eye. Selection has been methodically followed in Europe for only the last half century; but it was occasionally, and even in some degree methodically, followed in the most ancient times. There must have been also a kind of unconscious selection from a remote period, namely in the preservation of the individual animals (without any thought of their offspring) most useful to each race of man in his particular circumstances. The "roguing," as nurserymen call the destroying of varieties which depart from their type, is a kind of selection. I am convinced that intentional and occasional selection has been the main agent in the production of our domestic races; but however this may be, its great power of modification has been indisputably shown in later times. Selection acts only by the accumulation of slight or greater variations, caused by external conditions, or by the mere fact that in generation the child is not absolutely similar to its parent. Man, by this power of accumulating variations, adapts living beings to his wants—may be said to make the wool of one sheep good for carpets, of another for cloth, &c.

2. Now suppose there were a being who did not judge by mere external appearances, but who could study the whole internal organization, who was never capricious, and should go on selecting for one object during millions of generations; who will say what he might not effect? In nature we have some slight variation occasionally in all parts; and I think it can be shown that changed conditions of existence is the main cause of the child not exactly resembling its parents; and in nature geology shows us what changes have taken place, and are taking place. We have almost unlimited time; no one but a practical geologist can fully appreciate this. Think of the Glacial period, during the whole of which the same species at least of shells have existed; there must have been during this period millions on millions of generations.

3. I think it can be shown that there is such an unerring power at work in Natural Selection (the title of my book), which selects exclusively for the good of each organic being. The elder De Candolle, W. Herbert, and Lyell have written excellently on the struggle for life; but even they have not written strongly enough. Reflect that every being (even the elephant) breeds at such a rate, that in a few years, or at most a few centuries, the surface of the earth would not hold the progeny of one pair. I have found it hard constantly to bear in mind that the increase of every single species is checked during some part of its life, or during some shortly recurrent generation. Only a few of those annually born can live to propagate their kind. What a trifling difference must often determine which shall survive, and which perish!

4. Now take the case of a country undergoing some change. This will tend to cause some of its inhabitants to vary slightly—not but that I believe most beings vary at all times enough for selection to act on them. Some of its inhabitants will be exterminated; and the remainder will be exposed to the mutual action of a different set of inhabitants, which I believe to be far more important to the life of each being than mere climate. Considering the infinitely various methods which living beings follow to obtain food by struggling with other organisms, to escape danger at various times of life, to have their eggs or seeds disseminated, &c. &c., I cannot doubt that during millions of generations individuals of a species will be occasionally born with some slight variation, profitable to some part of their economy. Such individuals will have a better chance of surviving, and of propagating their new and slightly different structure; and the modification may be slowly increased by the accumulative action of natural selection to any profitable extent. The variety thus formed will either coexist with, or, more commonly, will exterminate its parent form. An organic being, like the woodpecker or misseltoe, may thus come to be adapted to a score of contingences—natural selection accumulating those slight variations in all parts of its structure, which are in any way useful to it during any part of its life.

5. Multiform difficulties will occur to every one, with respect to this theory. Many can, I think, be satisfactorily answered. Natura non facit saltum answers some of the most obvious. The slowness of the change, and only a very few individuals undergoing change at any one time, answers others. The extreme imperfection of our geological records answers others.

6. Another principle, which may be called the principle of divergence, plays, I believe, an important part in the origin of species. The same spot will support more life if occupied by very diverse forms. We see this in the many generic forms in a square yard of turf, and in the plants or insects on any little uniform islet, belonging almost invariably to as many genera and families as species. We can understand the meaning of this fact amongst the higher animals, whose habits we understand. We know that it has been experimentally shown that a plot of land will yield a greater weight if sown with several species and genera of grasses, than if sown with only two or three species. Now, every organic being, by propagating so rapidly, may be said to be striving its utmost to increase in numbers. So it will be with the offspring of any species after it has become diversified into varieties, or subspecies, or true species. And it follows, I think, from the foregoing facts, that the varying offspring of each species will try (only few will succeed) to seize on as many and as diverse places in the economy of nature as possible. Each new variety or species, when formed, will generally take the place of, and thus exterminate its less well-fitted parent. This I believe to be the origin of the classification and affinities of organic beings at all times; for organic beings always seem to branch and sub-branch like the limbs of a tree from a common trunk, the flourishing and diverging twigs destroying the less vigorous—the dead and lost branches rudely representing extinct genera and families.

This sketch is most imperfect; but in so short a space I cannot make it better. Your imagination must fill up very wide blanks.

C. Darwin.

III. On the Tendency of Varieties to depart indefinitely from the Original Type. By Alfred Russell Wallace.

One of the strongest arguments which have been adduced to prove the original and permanent distinctness of species is, that varieties produced in a state of domesticity are more or less unstable, and often have a tendency, if left to themselves, to return to the normal form of the parent species; and this instability is considered to be a distinctive peculiarity of all varieties, even of those occurring among wild animals in a state of nature, and to constitute a provision for preserving unchanged the originally created distinct species.

In the absence or scarcity of facts and observations as to varieties occurring among wild animals, this argument has had great weight with naturalists, and has led to a very general and somewhat prejudiced belief in the stability of species. Equally general, however, is the belief in what are called "permanent or true varieties,"—races of animals which continually propagate their like, but which differ so slightly (although constantly) from some other race, that the one is considered to be a variety of the other. Which is the variety and which the original species, there is generally no means of determining, except in those rare cases in which the one race has been known to produce an offspring unlike itself and resembling the other. This, however, would seem quite incompatible with the "permanent invariability of species," but the difficulty is overcome by assuming that such varieties have strict limits, and can never again vary further from the original type, although they may return to it, which, from the analogy of the domesticated animals, is considered to be highly probable, if not certainly proved.

It will be observed that this argument rests entirely on the assumption, that varieties occurring in a state of nature are in all respects analogous to or even identical with those of domestic animals, and are governed by the same laws as regards their permanence or further variation. But it is the object of the present paper to show that this assumption is altogether false, that there is a general principle in nature which will cause many varieties to survive the parent species, and to give rise to successive variations departing further and further from the original type, and which also produces, in domesticated animals, the tendency of varieties to return to the parent form.

The life of wild animals is a struggle for existence. The full exertion of all their faculties and all their energies is required to preserve their own existence and provide for that of their infant offspring. The possibility of procuring food during the least favourable seasons, and of escaping the attacks of their most dangerous enemies, are the primary conditions which determine the existence both of individuals and of entire species. These conditions will also determine the population of a species; and by a careful consideration of all the circumstances we may be enabled to comprehend, and in some degree to explain, what at first sight appears so inexplicable—the excessive abundance of some species, while others closely allied to them are very rare.

The general proportion that must obtain between certain groups of animals is readily seen. Large animals cannot be so abundant as small ones; the carnivora must be less numerous than the herbivora; eagles and lions can never be so plentiful as pigeons and antelopes; the wild asses of the Tartarian deserts cannot equal in numbers the horses of the more luxuriant prairies and pampas of America. The greater or less fecundity of an animal is often considered to be one of the chief causes of its abundance or scarcity; but a consideration of the facts will show us that it really has little or nothing to do with the matter. Even the least prolific of animals would increase rapidly if unchecked, whereas it is evident that the animal population of the globe must be stationary, or perhaps, through the influence of man, decreasing. Fluctuations there may be; but permanent increase, except in restricted localities, is almost impossible. For example, our own observation must convince us that birds do not go on increasing every year in a geometrical ratio, as they would do, were there not some powerful check to their natural increase. Very few birds produce less than two young ones each year, while many have six, eight, or ten; four will certainly be below the average; and if we suppose that each pair produce young only four times in their life, that will also be below the average, supposing them not to die either by violence or want of food. Yet at this rate how tremendous would be the increase in a few years from a single pair! A simple calculation will show that in fifteen years each pair of birds would have increased to nearly ten millions! whereas we have no reason to believe that the number of the birds of any country increases at all in fifteen or in one hundred and fifty years. With such powers of increase the population must have reached its limits, and have become stationary, in a very low years after the origin of each species. It is evident, therefore, that each year an immense number of birds must perish—as many in fact as are born; and as on the lowest calculation the progeny are each year twice as numerous as their parents, it follows that, whatever be the average number of individuals existing in any given country, twice that number must perish annually,—a striking result, but one which seems at least highly probable, and is perhaps under rather than over the truth. It would therefore appear that, as far as the continuance of the species and the keeping up the average number of individuals are concerned, large broods are superfluous. On the average all above one become food for hawks and kites, wild cats and weasels, or perish of cold and hunger as winter comes on. This is strikingly proved by the case of particular species; for we find that their abundance in individuals bears no relation whatever to their fertility in producing offspring. Perhaps the most remarkable instance of an immense bird population is that of the passenger pigeon of the United States, which lays only one, or at most two eggs, and is said to rear generally but one young one. Why is this bird so extraordinarily abundant, while others producing two or three times as many young are much less plentiful? The explanation is not difficult. The food most congenial to this species, and on which it thrives best, is abundantly distributed over a very extensive region, offering such differences of soil and climate, that in one part or another of the area the supply never fails. The bird is capable of a very rapid and long-continued flight, so that it can pass without fatigue over the whole of the district it inhabits, and as soon as the supply of food begins to fail in one place is able to discover a fresh feeding-ground. This example strikingly shows us that the procuring a constant supply of wholesome food is almost the sole condition requisite for ensuring the rapid increase of a given species, since neither the limited fecundity, nor the unrestrained attacks of birds of prey and of man are here sufficient to check it. In no other birds are these peculiar circumstances so strikingly combined. Either their food is more liable to failure, or they have not sufficient power of wing to search for it over an extensive area, or during some season of the year it becomes very scarce, and less wholesome substitutes have to be found; and thus, though more fertile in offspring, they can never increase beyond the supply of food in the least favourable seasons. Many birds can only exist by migrating, when their food becomes scarce, to regions possessing a milder, or at least a different climate, though, as these migrating birds are seldom excessively abundant, it is evident that the countries they visit are still deficient in a constant and abundant supply of wholesome food. Those whose organization does not permit them to migrate when their food becomes periodically scarce, can never attain a large population. This is probably the reason why woodpeckers are scarce with us, while in the tropics they are among the most abundant of solitary birds. Thus the house sparrow is more abundant than the redbreast, because its food is more constant and plentiful,—seeds of grasses being preserved during the winter, and our farm-yards and stubble-fields furnishing an almost inexhaustible supply. Why, as a general rule, are aquatic, and especially sea birds, very numerous in individuals? Not because they are more prolific than others, generally the contrary; but because their food never fails, the sea-shores and river-banks daily swarming with a fresh supply of small mollusca and crustacea. Exactly the same laws will apply to mammals. Wild cats are prolific and have few enemies; why then are they never as abundant as rabbits? The only intelligible answer is, that their supply of food is more precarious. It appears evident, therefore, that so long as a country remains physically unchanged, the numbers of its animal population cannot materially increase. If one species does so, some others requiring the same kind of food must diminish in proportion. The numbers that die annually must be immense; and as the individual existence of each animal depends upon itself, those that die must be the weakest—the very young, the aged, and the diseased,—while those that prolong their existence can only be the most perfect in health and vigour—those who are best able to obtain food regularly, and avoid their numerous enemies. It is, as we commenced by remarking, "a struggle for existence," in which the weakest and least perfectly organized must always succumb.

Now it is clear that what takes place among the individuals of a species must also occur among the several allied species of a group,—viz. that those which are best adapted to obtain a regular supply of food, and to defend themselves against the attacks of their enemies and the vicissitudes of the seasons, must necessarily obtain and preserve a superiority in population; while those species which from some defect of power or organization are the least capable of counteracting the vicissitudes of food, supply, &c., must diminish in numbers, and, in extreme cases, become altogether extinct. Between these extremes the species will present various degrees of capacity for ensuring the means of preserving life; and it is thus we account for the abundance or rarity of species. Our ignorance will generally prevent us from accurately tracing the effects to their causes; but could we become perfectly acquainted with the organization and habits of the various species of animals, and could we measure the capacity of each for performing the different acts necessary to its safety and existence under all the varying circumstances by which it is surrounded, we might be able even to calculate the proportionate abundance of individuals which is the necessary result.

If now we have succeeded in establishing these two points—1st, that the animal population of a country is generally stationary, being kept down by a periodical deficiency of food, and other checks; and, 2nd, that the comparative abundance or scarcity of the individuals of the several species is entirely due to their organization and resulting habits, which, rendering it more difficult to procure a regular supply of food and to provide for their personal safety in some cases than in others, can only be balanced by a difference in the population which have to exist in a given area—we shall be in a condition to proceed to the consideration of varieties, to which the preceding remarks have a direct and very important application.

Most or perhaps all the variations from the typical form of a species must have some definite effect, however slight, on the habits or capacities of the individuals. Even a change of colour might, by rendering them more or less distinguishable, affect their safety; a greater or less development of hair might modify their habits. More important changes, such as an increase in the power or dimensions of the limbs or any of the external organs, would more or less affect their mode of procuring food or the range of country which they inhabit. It is also evident that most changes would affect, either favourably or adversely, the powers of prolonging existence. An antelope with shorter or weaker legs must necessarily suffer more from the attacks of the feline carnivora; the passenger pigeon with less powerful wings would sooner or later be affected in its powers of procuring a regular supply of food; and in both cases the result must necessarily be a diminution of the population of the modified species. If, on the other hand, any species should produce a variety having slightly increased powers of preserving existence, that variety must inevitably in time acquire a superiority in numbers. These results must follow as surely as old age, intemperance, or scarcity of food produce an increased mortality. In both cases there may be many individual exceptions; but on the average the rule will invariably be found to hold good. All varieties will therefore fall into two classes—those which under the same conditions would never reach the population of the parent species, and those which would in time obtain and keep a numerical superiority. Now, let some alteration of physical conditions occur in the district—a long period of drought, a destruction of vegetation by locusts, the irruption of some new carnivorous animal seeking "pastures new"—any change in fact tending to render existence more difficult to the species in question, and tasking its utmost powers to avoid complete extermination; it is evident that, of all the individuals composing the species, those forming the least numerous and most feebly organized variety would suffer first, and, were the pressure severe, must soon become extinct. The same causes continuing in action, the parent species would next suffer, would gradually diminish in numbers, and with a recurrence of similar unfavourable conditions might also become extinct. The superior variety would then alone remain, and on a return to favourable circumstances would rapidly increase in numbers and occupy the place of the extinct species and variety.

The variety would now have replaced the species, of which it would be a more perfectly developed and more highly organized form. It would be in all respects better adapted to secure its safety, and to prolong its individual existence and that of the race. Such a variety could not return to the original form; for that form is an inferior one, and could never compete with it for existence. Granted, therefore, a "tendency" to reproduce the original type of the species, still the variety must ever remain preponderant in numbers, and under adverse physical conditions again alone survive. But this new, improved, and populous race might itself, in course of time, give rise to new varieties, exhibiting several diverging modifications of form, any of which, tending to increase the facilities for preserving existence, must, by the same general law, in their turn become predominant. Here, then, we have progression and continued divergence deduced from the general laws which regulate the existence of animals in a state of nature, and from the undisputed fact that varieties do frequently occur. It is not, however, contended that this result would be invariable; a change of physical conditions in the district might at times materially modify it, rendering the race which had been the most capable of supporting existence under the former conditions now the least so, and even causing the extinction of the newer and, for a time, superior race, while the old or parent species and its first inferior varieties continued to flourish. Variations in unimportant parts might also occur, having no perceptible effect on the life-preserving powers; and the varieties so furnished might run a course parallel with the parent species, either giving rise to further variations or returning to the former type. All we argue for is, that certain varieties have a tendency to maintain their existence longer than the original species, and this tendency must make itself felt; for though the doctrine of chances or averages can never be trusted to on a limited scale, yet, if applied to high numbers, the results come nearer to what theory demands, and, as we approach to an infinity of examples, become strictly accurate. Now the scale on which nature works is so vast—the numbers of individuals and periods of time with which she deals approach so near to infinity, that any cause, however slight, and however liable to be veiled and counteracted by accidental circumstances, must in the end produce its full legitimate results.

Let us now turn to domesticated animals, and inquire how varieties produced among them are affected by the principles here enunciated. The essential difference in the condition of wild and domestic animals is this,—that among the former, their well-being and very existence depend upon the full exercise and healthy condition of all their senses and physical powers, whereas, among the latter, these are only partially exercised, and in some cases are absolutely unused. A wild animal has to search, and often to labour, for every mouthful of food—to exercise sight, hearing, and smell in seeking it, and in avoiding dangers, in procuring shelter from the inclemency of the seasons, and in providing for the subsistence and safety of its offspring. There is no muscle of its body that is not called into daily and hourly activity; there is no sense or faculty that is not strengthened by continual exercise. The domestic animal, on the other hand, has food provided for it, is sheltered, and often confined, to guard it against the vicissitudes of the seasons, is carefully secured from the attacks of its natural enemies, and seldom even rears its young without human assistance. Half of its senses and faculties are quite useless; and the other half are but occasionally called into feeble exercise, while even its muscular system is only irregularly called into action.

Now when a variety of such an animal occurs, having increased power or capacity in any organ or sense, such increase is totally useless, is never called into action, and may even exist without the animal ever becoming aware of it. In the wild animal, on the contrary, all its faculties and powers being brought into full action for the necessities of existence, any increase becomes immediately available, is strengthened by exercise, and must even slightly modify the food, the habits, and the whole economy of the race. It creates as it were a new animal, one of superior powers, and which will necessarily increase in numbers and outlive those inferior to it.

Again, in the domesticated animal all variations have an equal chance of continuance; and those which would decidedly render a wild animal unable to compete with its fellows and continue its existence are no disadvantage whatever in a state of domesticity. Our quickly fattening pigs, short-legged sheep, pouter pigeons, and poodle dogs could never have come into existence in a state of nature, because the very first step towards such inferior forms would have led to the rapid extinction of the race; still less could they now exist in competition with their wild allies. The great speed but slight endurance of the race horse, the unwieldy strength of the ploughman's team, would both be useless in a state of nature. If turned wild on the pampas, such animals would probably soon become extinct, or under favourable circumstances might each lose those extreme qualities which would never be called into action, and in a few generations would revert to a common type, which must be that in which the various powers and faculties are so proportioned to each other as to be best adapted to procure food and secure safety,—that in which by the full exercise of every part of his organization the animal can alone continue to live. Domestic varieties, when turned wild, must return to something near the type of the original wild stock, or become altogether extinct.

We see, then, that no inferences as to varieties in a state of nature can be deduced from the observation of those occurring among domestic animals. The two are so much opposed to each other in every circumstance of their existence, that what applies to the one is almost sure not to apply to the other. Domestic animals are abnormal, irregular, artificial; they are subject to varieties which never occur and never can occur in a state of nature: their very existence depends altogether on human care; so far are many of them removed from that just proportion of faculties, that true balance of organization, by means of which alone an animal left to its own resources can preserve its existence and continue its race.

The hypothesis of Lamarck—that progressive changes in species have been produced by the attempts of animals to increase the development of their own organs, and thus modify their structure and habits—has been repeatedly and easily refuted by all writers on the subject of varieties and species, and it seems to have been considered that when this was done the whole question has been finally settled; but the view here developed renders such an hypothesis quite unnecessary, by showing that similar results must be produced by the action of principles constantly at work in nature. The powerful retractile talons of the falcon- and the cat-tribes have not been produced or increased by the volition of those animals; but among the different varieties which occurred in the earlier and less highly organized forms of these groups, those always survived longest which had the greatest facilities for seizing their prey. Neither did the giraffe acquire its long neck by desiring to reach the foliage of the more lofty shrubs, and constantly stretching its neck for the purpose, but because any varieties which occurred among its antitypes with a longer neck than usual at once secured a fresh range of pasture over the same ground as their shorter-necked companions, and on the first scarcity of food were thereby enabled to outlive them. Even the peculiar colours of many animals, especially insects, so closely resembling the soil or the leaves or the trunks on which they habitually reside, are explained on the same principle; for though in the course of ages varieties of many tints may have occurred, yet those races having colours best adapted to concealment from their enemies would inevitably survive the longest. We have also here an acting cause to account for that balance so often observed in nature,—a deficiency in one set of organs always being compensated by an increased development of some others—powerful wings accompanying weak feet, or great velocity making up for the absence of defensive weapons; for it has been shown that all varieties in which an unbalanced deficiency occurred could not long continue their existence. The action of this principle is exactly like that of the centrifugal governor of the steam engine, which checks and corrects any irregularities almost before they become evident; and in like manner no unbalanced deficiency in the animal kingdom can ever reach any conspicuous magnitude, because it would make itself felt at the very first step, by rendering existence difficult and extinction almost sure soon to follow. An origin such as is here advocated will also agree with the peculiar character of the modifications of form and structure which obtain in organized beings—the many lines of divergence from a central type, the increasing efficiency and power of a particular organ through a succession of allied species, and the remarkable persistence of unimportant parts such as colour, texture of plumage and hair, form of horns or crests, through a series of species differing considerably in more essential characters. It also furnishes us with a reason for that "more specialized structure" which Professor Owen states to be a characteristic of recent compared with extinct forms, and which would evidently be the result of the progressive modification of any organ applied to a special purpose in the animal economy.

We believe we have now shown that there is a tendency in nature to the continued progression of certain classes of varieties further and further from the original type—a progression to which there appears no reason to assign any definite limits—and that the same principle which produces this result in a state of nature will also explain why domestic varieties have a tendency to revert to the original type. This progression, by minute steps, in various directions, but always checked and balanced by the necessary conditions, subject to which alone existence can be preserved, may, it is believed, be followed out so as to agree with all the phenomena presented by organized beings, their extinction and succession in past ages, and all the extraordinary modifications of form, instinct, and habits which they exhibit.

Ternate, February, 1858.

FOOTNOTES:

Contributions to the Anatomy and Natural History of the Cetacea. By R. Knox, Esq., M.D., F.R.S.E. Communicated by the Secretary.

[Received Oct. 6, 1857.]

Part I. The Dolphins.

The dissection of the Cetacea, and more especially of the larger kinds, is attended with great difficulty, and not unfrequently entails heavy expenses on those who attempt it. For these reasons I have thought that zoologists might be pleased to have, even now, submitted to them the results of numerous dissections made many years ago, when, not stinted in means, and having the aid of excellent assistants, I attempted the dissection even of the gigantic Arctic Rorqual, the largest, perhaps, of all living beings. Certain of the details have been from time to time laid before the public, but in an extremely scattered and incomplete form, and without the illustrations (artistic), which explain so much better than any verbal description. The greater part is still before me in manuscript. It is my intention in the following contributions to endeavour to connect them together, adding to those already published many facts I find in MSS. The original drawings, made by my brother and by Messrs. Edward Forbes and Henry Goodsir (who were at that time my students and assistants), are still in my possession.

Determination of Species.—The determination of species as regards the Cetacea is one of much difficulty; Cuvier met this difficulty by an appeal to anatomy. The number of vertebræ composing the vertebral column (exclusive of the cephalic) seemed to me a tolerably secure guide in the determination of species,—being aware, however, that some doubted the method, believing that the number of the vertebræ might vary, first, with the individual, secondly with the age of the specimen. I still continue to be of my original opinion, that the number of vertebræ comprising the vertebral column, properly so called, may safely be trusted in determining the species of the Cetacea; and with this view I drew up the following Table, excepting from it the genus Dugong, which I have never considered to be a Cetacean:—

Tabular View of the Number of the Vertebræ in certain Cetacea.

(Cephalic vertebræ excluded.)

Authorities.

Species.Cuvier.Rudolphi.Knox.J. Hunter.Hunter (Glasgow.)

1. Mysticetus.

Skeleton of the fœtus (the cervical reckoned as 7) of the Mysticetus borealis, Greenland 48

Adult Mysticetus, Whale of Commerce.unknown

B. Mysticetus australis, True Whale of the Cape Seas59

2. Balænoptera.

Gigantic Northern Rorqual 65

Specimen of Rorqual described by Rudolphi 54

B. rostrata of Fabricius; on the authority of Van Beneden: A. Rorqual 48

Great Whale at Antwerp. Van Beneden. Species not stated 61 or 62.

The lesser Rorqual of the North 484646

Great Rorqual of the Cape52

3. Physeter.

Sperm Whale or Cachalot60

4. Delphinus.

D. Delphis67

D. Delphis. In my museum 81

D. Delphis. In the Museum of Dr. R. Hunter, Glasgow 90

D. Delphis. Dissected by John Hunter 60

D. Phocæna66 6551

D. Ebsenii. Van Beneden 90

In a late number of the 'Bulletins of the Royal Academy of Brussels' I find some valuable remarks in respect of these points by M. Van Beneden. He praises, and deservedly, no doubt, the exertions of M. Eschricht to collect a proper Museum of the Cetacea. It appears, according to M. Eschricht, that at no age whatever do we find in true whales (meaning, I presume, the Mysticetus borealis and australis) any distinct vertebræ in the cervical region as in other mammals. A fusion of all into one bone or cartilage seems to take place even in the youngest fœtus. In the fœtus examined by me of this species (a specimen removed from the uterus of a true Mysticetus killed in the Greenland seas), I do not recollect the precise appearance of the cervical vertebræ; but the skeleton is in existence, and shall be referred to. To the skeleton of the Rorqual now in the Museum at Antwerp, and which seems to me of the same species as the one I dissected in Scotland (and of which the skeleton, prepared with infinite care by my brother and myself, was presented by me to the Town Council of Edinburgh, and is now preserved in the Zoological Gardens of the same city), he gives the following vertebræ:—

Skeleton of the Rorqual at Antwerp—Cervical 7

Dorsal14-15

Lumbar15

Caudal25[C]

Total61 or 62

In the skeleton of the Great Rorqual now in the Zoological Gardens at Edinburgh, and originally dissected and prepared by my brother and myself, these vertebræ are—

Cervical7

Dorsal15

Lumbar and Caudal43

Total65

In that of the Lesser Rorqual I dissected in 1830, the skeleton of which I think is still preserved in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, we found—

Vertebræ.

Cervical7

Dorsal11

Lumbar13

Caudal17

Total48

The specimen was that of a young animal, and of the same species, I believe, as the one described by Mr. Hunter and Fabricius; it is a distinct species, and not merely the young of the Great Rorqual.

I shall return to the Dugong, as not being a Cetacean, in a future Section: its skeleton has been examined in a masterly way by De Blainville, an anatomist and observer of the highest order, since the time I wrote and published my Memoir on the Dugong.

The first great step in the anatomy of the Cetacea is unquestionably due to Cuvier; but his dissections were almost confined to the genus Delphinus, or the common Porpoise of our coasts. I repeated all his dissections, and found them, as they almost always were, scrupulously exact; but when I came to examine Cetacea with whalebone instead of teeth, I was surprised to find how different, in fact, the anatomy of the two great families was. Scarcely in any great natural family do we find Cuvier's favourite theory of anatomical and physiological co-relations so entirely at fault as in the Cetacea. The teeth or whalebone, as natural-history characters, lead to no results; the whole structure of the interior defies all à-priori reasoning. The brain in whalebone-whales does not fill the interior of the cranium; so that the capacity of the one is no measure of the solid bulk of the other. Their food is various, having no relation to the teeth or buccal appendages; vascular structures surround the spinal marrow, and extend in the Balænopteræ into the cavity of the cranium, which seem to be without any analogy in other mammals, or, at the least, a very obscure one, and whose functions are wholly unknown.

Cetacea might with some propriety be divided into whales with whalebone, and whales with teeth. Those with whalebone have rudimentary teeth in both jaws in the fœtal state. Fossil Cetacea exist, and they seem to have been of both kinds, but, no doubt, were generically and specifically distinct from the recent. Judging from the remains of those I have seen, I am inclined to think that those with teeth were of a stronger and firmer build in the skeleton than those called recent; that the neck was longer, and the caudal portion of the column shorter than in the recent kinds, and that they approached the Saurians in form. There is a remarkable want of symmetry in the crania of some of the Cetacea; but most remarkable is the cranium of the Narwhal. Of this fact I have already spoken, in the article published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Delphinus Phocæna. Dissection of a small Cetacean sent to me from Orkney in the month of May 1835.—This species is said to abound on the coasts, and to furnish a kind of fishery to the inhabitants. On dissection we found 81 vertebræ, exclusive of the cephalic. The species must be quite distinct from those previously and subsequently examined by myself and many others, in which the number of vertebræ ranged from 61 to 66. It is also, I think, distinct from the specimen I saw in Dr. R. Hunter's Museum in Glasgow, in which the number of vertebræ was 90, exclusive of the cephalic in all the cases. Thus it stands with regard to the Cetacea called Porpoises and Dolphins.

In certain species of Delphinus the vertical column is composed of 61 vertebræ, in others of 65, in others of 66, in others of 81, in others of 90.

The specimen I now describe was, no doubt, that of a young animal; and the skeleton was prepared, consequently, as a natural one. This method has the advantage of security against the loss of any important osseous structures, which too frequently happens when the bones require to be macerated. The bones contained little oil, and weighed, head included, only 7¼ lbs.; the whole animal, when entire, weighed 14 stone, or 196 lbs.; the skeleton therefore was about a twenty-fourth part of the whole weight. It was a female. The external nostrils terminated in a single orifice of a semilunar shape, with the concavity turned towards the snout. Measurements of young animals have not the importance of those of the adult; but I give them here because I think that the specimen, although young, had nearly attained its full growth:—

ft.in.

Total length over the dorsum65-2/8

Total length lateral surface611-2/8

Total length abdominal surface611-2/8

From the snout to the nostrils011-4/8

From the nostrils to the dorsal fin16-4/8

Base of the dorsal fin011

From dorsal fin to foot of tail30-2/8

Breadth of pectoral limb04-4/8

From the snout to the organs of generation39-4/8

Circumference anterior to the arm29

Circumference anterior to dorsal fin32-4/8

Circumference posterior to dorsal fin210

Circumference at setting on of the tail08-4/8

Length of pectoral limb010

Breadth of tail12

Greatest height of the dorsal fin09

From the notes taken at the time, I find that my brother remarks that the Dolphin of Orkney differed a good deal in shape from those found in the Forth and seas in the South of Scotland. There were, moreover, 16 more vertebræ than in the skeleton of the Common Porpoise of authors. The teeth generally weighed 2½ grains each.

Further, the muscles of the tongue, intrinsic as well as extrinsic, were extremely well developed. The isthmus faucium was 3 inches long. All this part was extremely glandular. A well-marked muscular gullet followed, composed of two layers of muscular fibres,—one circular internally, and one longitudinal externally. These latter sent a slip to the base of the arytænoid cartilages. The mucous membrane of the gullet had no true epidermic covering, and in this respect differed remarkably from the first gastric compartment, from which a cuticular lining could be peeled off, as strong as that from the sole of the foot in man. The larynx presented that organization so well described by the illustrious Cuvier, and which I believe to be peculiar to the whales with teeth. It differs very much, as I explained long ago, in its arrangement from that of Whalebone Whales,—a fact of which I think Cuvier was not aware. The cricoid cartilage was imperfect in form; the hyo-epiglottic muscles very strong. The proper arytænoid were present, and strong, but did not extend so high as in man; the thyro-arytænoid muscles were very fully developed. In the interior of the larynx there were no projections nor ventricles, no cuneiform cartilages, nor cornicula laryngis. The rings of the trachea formed complete circles.

Stomach.—The cuticular lining is limited to the first cavity or compartment. It is in the second compartment that is found the curious glandular arrangement first, I believe, described by me in the 'Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.' This structure is most probably not limited to the second compartment. There are four distinct compartments in the stomach of this animal. A dilated duodenum follows, 6 inches in length. It is possible that this may have been in some instances mistaken for a stomach. The valvulæ conniventes commence with the jejunum; these are longitudinal, and extend to within about 6 inches of the anus, terminating at a point where the intestine seems enlarged. The length of the intestines, large and small, was 90 feet; circumference generally about 2 inches. Thousands and tens of thousands of parasitical worms were found in the stomach, but none in the intestine. In the stomach also we found four mandibles of the cuttlefish, but no remains of anything in the intestines, and no parasites.

Heart and Vessels.—The heart weighed exactly one pound. The Eustachian valve was small, that of Thebesius imperfect. The aorta proceeded for about 3 inches of its course before giving off any branches. At a point corresponding to the 15th or 16th lumbar vertebra the vessel divided into the common iliacs. The art. sacri media, its continuation, continued its course protected by the V-bones, and giving off branches corresponding to the intervertebral spaces.

Brain and Nervous System.—The erectile tissue surrounding the spinal cord and origin of the spinal nerves in the Cetacea did not extend into the interior of the cranium. The entire encephalic mass weighed 2½ lbs.: cerebrum, 2 lbs.; cerebellum, ¼; pons and medulla, ¼ = 2½. Compared with a drawing of Camper of the Delphinus Phocæna, the brain was found to differ remarkably, in being much broader in the line of the middle and posterior lobes. In no animal did I ever find the fibrous structure of the brain so well marked; and this extended to the cerebellum[D]. I give here some measurements of the brain, which may be of use to future observers. The brain is short from before backwards, but broad transversely:—

Antero-posterior diameter5-2/8inches.

Breadth8inches.

Greatest breadth of the cerebellum4inches.

Length of the cerebellar hemisphere4-6/8inches.

Depth of ditto3-2/8inches.

Weight of the encephalic mass2½lbs.

Depth of the interhemispherical fissure1-2/8inches.

Length of the corpus callosum1-7/8inches.

Weight of cerebrum2}

Weight of cerebellum0¼}= 2½ lbs.

Weight of the pons and med. oblongata0¼}

Nerves.—The 7th pair was found to be unexpectedly large and firm, including both portions. The anterior roots of the spinal nerves were far more numerous than the posterior or dorsal.

Muscles.—The panniculus carnosus, strong and fleshy, extended nearly over the whole trunk. The recti abdominis were powerful, and attached inferiorly in this way:—A portion runs to the pelvic bones; a much stronger to a strong aponeurosis, situated between the anus and the root of the tail.

The erector muscles of the spine (sacrolumbalis, longissimus dorsi and multifidus spinæ) weighed fully 16 lbs. They had but slender costal attachments; but their spinal (small delicate tendons) were innumerable. The scaleni were very large; and the vessels held the same relation to them as in man. The serratus magnus was comparatively small. The larger rhomboid had no spinal attachment; the minor rhomboid seemed to be the larger of the two. The pectorals were comparatively small. The adipose tissue appeared to be wholly confined to the subcutaneous region. The muscles were of a deep brown colour, full of blood, with a short, dark, and well-flavoured fibre: when cooked, they had a strong resemblance in flavour and taste to the flesh of the hare.

Part II. The Balæna Whales, or Whales with Whalebone.

In February 1834 a young whale of the family of Balæna Whales was caught near the Queensferry, in the Firth of Forth. One much larger had been seen some time before, but escaped. I purchased it for dissection, although I was aware that it was impossible for me, during the hurry of the winter session, to devote much time to it. But I had able assistants (Mr. Henry Goodsir, Mr. Edward Forbes, and my brother), from whom I expected a good deal of aid. Some very beautiful drawings of this whale, made for me by Mr. Edward Forbes and by my brother, are still in my possession.

It was easy to see, by the dorsal fin and by the numerous plaits or folds on the abdominal surface of the throat and chest, before any dissection, that the specimen was a young Balænopterous whale, differing in a great many points from the true whale or Mysticetus: for, 1st, the form of the head was entirely different; 2nd, it had a dorsal fin; and, 3rd, occupying the lower surface of the throat and thorax were numerous folds of the integuments. To this class of whales I have been in the habit of giving the name of Rorqual, to distinguish them from the other class of Whalebone Whales, the Mysticetus both borealis and australis.

It appears from my notes, that at that time M. G. Cuvier considered the species I now describe as identical with the Great Rorqual I had described about two years previously; but I felt convinced then, as now, that they form distinct species, and in this opinion some continental anatomists seem to coincide.

Being persuaded that there was some inaccuracy in former drawings of the species, I had the specimen suspended and drawn with great care by Mr. Edward Forbes. This position explained the mechanism of the mouth, showing its great size, even in the short Balæna Whales; its great capacity in the Mysticetus had never been doubted.

As to the species, the conclusion I arrived at was, that the specimen belonged to that termed by Fabricius rostrata, and that individuals of the species had been seen by John Hunter, Sir James Watson, and Fabricius.

Measurements.ft.in.

Total length of the specimen911

Circumference immediately behind the pectoral extremities52

Circumference where the folds or rugæ terminated48¼

Ditto of the tail at its origin15½

Length from the back fin to the setting on of the tail210

Length from the snout to the ear30

Length from snout to nostrils14

Length of lower jaw23

Length of arm; inner side13

Length from the angle of the mouth to the arm13

Length from snout to arm29

Length of tail in depth011

Length of back fin at the base08

Height of back fin08½

From top to tip of tail28½

Stomach:—1st compartment, in length12

2nd compartment, in length14

3rd compartment, in length08

4th compartment, in length07

5th compartment, in length03

Spleen weighed 4 ounces; its length was05

Liver, 9 lbs.

Small intestines, length200

Large intestines, length24

Kidney, weight 2¼ lbs.

Brain (including 2 inches of spinal marrow), 3½ lbs.

Cerebellum, pons, and 2 inches of spinal marrow, ¾ lb.

Great hemisphere of the brain measured 3 inches in length, in breadth, 6½; at the base, 8 inches.

Tuber annulare01-2/8

Olfactory nerves, in length01½

Ditto, breadth02½

Skeleton:—Length of cranium211

Greatest breadth between the orbits13

Length of vertebral column78

When we compare the skeleton of this Rorqual with the Gigantic Rorqual I also dissected, we find as follows:—

R. giganteus.R. minor.

Cervicalvertebræ7vertebræ7

Dorsal1511

Lumbar, sacral, caudal4330

————

6548

These differences must be specific.

At the extremity of the snout in either jaw there were 8 strong bristles, being the only vestiges of hair found on the external surface. The mouth was of great size; the tongue large and tolerably free, and of a pale rose or vermilion colour. The baleen, where deepest, measured about 4 inches; there were 370 plates on each side; but anteriorly and posteriorly these plates were reduced to mere bristles.

The isthmus faucium allowed the closed hand to pass through it; through this isthmus I do not believe that any water ever passes into the pharynx, unless it be accidentally, as in man. The "spout" of the Whalebone Whale is composed, no doubt, of the pulmonary vapour, and not of any water received into the pharynx from the mouth.

The stomach seemed composed of five compartments externally, but presented only four when laid open, the fifth being manifestly the duodenum. In the intestines no remains of food were found, but abundance of intestinal worms, and a substance strongly resembling the human meconium. There was an ilio-cæcal valve as distinct as in man. In the rectum the folds of the mucous membrane were transverse.

Organs of Respiration.—The external nostrils were double; and the cavities of the nostrils provided with the remarkable cartilages and muscular apparatus I discovered and described in the anatomy of the Great Rorqual. In this specimen they were about 4 inches in length, but of as many feet in the large Rorqual. The mode of breathing in the Rorquals does not differ much from that in man, with the exception of the apparatus of the protruding cartilages, which in man are rudimentary.

The Olfactory Nerves were quite as large as in other mammals; and in this respect the Balæna Whales are quite unlike the Dolphins[E].

The trachea communicated, near its upper part, with a sac or pouch; the lungs were each composed of a single lobe. The rings of the trachea were mostly deficient anteriorly. In the heart the fœtal arrangements had wholly disappeared. The dura mater seemed divisible into three layers, the external being vascular. A remarkable vascular substance connected with this layer covers the back part of the brain and cerebellum, extending into the spinal canal, and even into the chest. At the base of the brain the vascular plexus was about 2 inches in thickness. It is, as is well known, a sort of erectile tissue, of whose functions we are wholly ignorant. It is not confined to this course, but extends to the neck, and, passing through the foramina intervertebralia, fills the intercostal spaces exterior to the pleura.

There was evidently a canal in the centre of the spinal marrow. Wherever the nerves of the lungs and stomach were traced, they terminated in loops. We did not observe in the Great Rorqual any tracheal pouch like that in the smaller; but it may have escaped notice: if absent in the Great Rorqual, it would be another proof of the distinctness of the species.

The doubts raised by M. St. Hilaire, as to the Whale being a mammal in the true sense of the term, were set aside long ago by an appeal to facts. The young of the Whale tribe suckle like the young of all mammals; nevertheless I showed, in 1834, that the lactiferous glands in the Balænopteræ differ in structure from the same organs in most mammals.

I do not find in my notes anything to add to the description of the Great Rorqual already published in the 'Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh' for 1827, to which I beg leave to refer the reader.

A single remark must be added regarding the nature of the vascular plexus which, in the Cetacea, surrounds the spinal marrow, and extends into the chest. On selecting the artery which seemed to form the plexus, which was, if I rightly recollect, in this instance an intercostal artery, and dissecting it under water, I found, to my surprise, that the artery, so long as I followed it, never gave off any branches, but continued of the same calibre throughout, making innumerable flexuosities or turnings. Thus, on a plexiform mass of this kind being cut across, the first impression is, that a great number of arterial branches or arteries have been divided, whilst in fact the entire plexus seems to be formed of one artery.

As was to be expected of animals so much withdrawn from human observation, there is but little to say on the natural history of the Cetacea properly so called. Their food, no doubt, is various, and seems to have little or no relation to the character of their dentition. The enormous Cachalot, with its vast teeth implanted only in one jaw, is generally understood to prey chiefly on the Cuttlefish. The food of the true Whale, or Mysticetus, is well known to be the Clio and other smaller Mollusca, with which certain regions of the ocean abound; the same, or similar, is probably the food of the more active and restless Rorquals, found in both hemispheres. The Dolphins, or Toothed Whales, generally prey, no doubt, on fishes of various kinds; yet, even as regards these, it has been proved by my esteemed friend, the late Mr. Henry Goodsir, that some of the largest, following in the wake of the herring shoals, prey not on these, but on the various microscopic food (the Entomostraca and other marine animals) which I was the first to prove to be the natural food of many excellent gregarious freshwater fish, as the Vendace, Early Loch Leven Trout, the Brown Trout of the Highland and Scottish lakes generally, and of the Herring itself[F]. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the complex apparatus connected with the exterior nostrils of the Dolphins is wholly wanting in the Balæna Whales,—a fact of which M. Cuvier was not aware when he wrote his celebrated Treatise on Comparative Anatomy.

Appendix.—Since writing the above, I have received an answer to a letter I addressed to my friend, John Goodsir, Esq., Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh. The request contained in my letter to Mr. Goodsir was, to examine for me the skeleton of a fœtal Mysticetus now in the University Museum. The fœtus from which this skeleton was prepared was removed from the uterus of the mother, killed in the North Seas by the seamen of a whaling ship, by one of my former students, Mr. R. Auld, who presented the specimen to me. The point at issue was the composition of the cervical vertebræ in the true or Greenland Whale, the Balæna Mysticetus. M. Van Beneden, to whose memoir I have referred in the commencement of this, says, on the authority of Eschricht, that at no age whatever do we find in true Whales (meaning, I presume, the Mysticetus borealis and australis) any distinct vertebræ in the cervical region, as in other mammals. A fusion of all into one bone or cartilage seems to take place even in the youngest fœtus. Now, I had enjoyed the rare opportunity of dissecting the fœtus of the Mysticetus, and I knew that the skeleton, prepared with the greatest care, was still preserved in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh. I wrote to Mr. Goodsir to re-examine this point for me, for I did not find in my notes any confirmation of the observations of Eschricht. Mr. Goodsir's reply to my note is as follows:—

"University, Edinburgh, Sept. 30, 1857.

"My dear Sir,

"In the skeleton of the fœtal Mysticetus now in the University Museum, the bodies of the axis and atlas have shrivelled up together, having evidently consisted of cartilage only; but the bodies of the five posterior cervical vertebræ are beautifully distinct, having well-formed osseous centres, which give them more of the configuration of the succeeding vertebral bodies than they present in their compressed form in the adult.

"The neural arches in the cervical region of this skeleton are five in number; the two anterior, which are distinctly those of the atlas and axis, have an osseous nodule on each side, where the transverse processes pass off. The third arch belongs to the third vertebra, the fourth and fifth to the sixth and seventh. These three arches are cartilaginous, and present no osseous centres. It is impossible to determine from the preparation whether the arches of the fourth and fifth vertebræ had been cut away in dissecting the parts, or whether they have shrivelled up in drying; but as the skeleton was very carefully prepared, and as these two arches are deficient (at least laterally) in the adult Mysticetus, I presume that the cartilaginous matrices were at least extremely delicate in the fœtus.

"I believe I have stated all the facts, afforded by this skeleton, which bear upon your questions. They appear to me to afford no support to the views to which they refer.

"Yours very sincerely, (Signed) "John Goodsir."

The conclusion I arrived at is this,—that the actual number of cervical vertebræ in the Mysticetus is, as in most other mammals, seven, and that, notwithstanding their earlier fusion, they are originally quite distinct.

FOOTNOTES:

Extract of a Letter from Dr. Baikie to Sir John Richardson, M.D., C.B., F.R. & L.S., dated 29th October, 1857, Rabba, on the Qworra.

[Read January 21st, 1858.]

"In natural history my collection is advancing, especially in skins and skeletons of birds. I am collecting skulls of all the domesticated animals, and skeletons of the sheep and goats. I have got a few fish, including a prettily-marked Diodon or Tetraodon, probably new, and a Myletes which I did not meet with formerly. The Siluridæ are the most abundant fishes; and one species closely resembles the Hypophthalmus, figured by Rüppell in his 'Fishes of the Nile and Red Sea.' I have not met with another Polypterus. I shall get a Lepidosiren in the river, and have heard of an electrical fish, I believe a Malopteruris, such as I formerly found. I enclose two scales of a fish which is said to grow to the length of 5 feet, but of which I have specimens half that size only,—also a sketch of a curious fish 2½ feet, which I put into spirits; it has neither ventral nor anal fins, a very peculiar caudal, and a slender head, while the dorsal extends along the whole back; eyes very small; teeth numerous and hard, but not sharp." He adds, in a postscript, that he had got the Lepidosiren. He had collected 700 species of plants, and numerous fine fruits, which he says "will rejoice Sir William Hooker's heart."

Dr. Baikie's postscript, however, mentions that his vessel had been wrecked about twelve miles above Lagos, and that she sunk in a few minutes after she struck. He does not say what was the fate of his collections, but states that all the party had fever from fatigue and sleeping in swamps after the wreck.—J. R.

Catalogue of the Dipterous Insects collected in the Aru Islands by Mr. A. R. Wallace, with Descriptions of New Species. By Francis Walker.

Aru Island.

Fam. MYCETOPHILIDÆ, Haliday.

Gen. SCIARA, Meigen.

Div. A. a., Meig. vi. 305.

1. Sciara Selecta, n. s. Mas. Nigra, cinereo-tomentosa, antennis sat validis, pedibus piceis, alis cinereis, venis costalibus crassis.

Male. Black, with cinereous tomentum; antennæ rather stout; legs piceous; wings greyish; veins black; radial and cubital veins thick; radial vein extending to the fork of the subapical. Length of the body 1¾ line; of the wings 4 lines.

Fam. BIBIONIDÆ, Haliday.

Gen. Plecia, Hoffmansegg.

2. Plecia dorsalis, Walk. See Vol. I. p. 5.

Fam. CULICIDÆ, Haliday.

3. CULEX SCUTELLARIS, n. s. Mas. Nigro-fuscus, capite thoraceque argenteo trivittatis, scutello rufescente; abdominis segmentis argenteo fasciatis, genubus et tarsorum posticorum fasciis niveis; alis subcinereis, venis nigris ciliatis.

Male. Blackish brown. Head and thorax with three silvery stripes, the middle one very distinct; scutellum reddish; pectus with silvery gloss; abdomen with silvery bands, which are narrow above, broad beneath; femora pale towards the base; knees snow-white; hind tarsi with 5 broad snow-white bands; middle tarsi with the first and second joints white at the base; wings slightly greyish; veins black, fringed. Length of the body 3 lines; of the wings 5 lines.

Fam. TIPULIDÆ.

Gen. Megistocera, Wied.

4. Megistocera tuscana, Wied. Auss. Zweist. 1. 55. 1. Inhabits also Java.

Gen. Gynoplistia, Westw.

5. Gynoplistia Jurgiosa, n. s. Mas. et Fœm. Nigra, capite rufescente, alis cinereis, plagis costalibus nigro-fuscis.—Mas. Abdomine ochraceo, apice nigro, femoribus basi testaceis.—Fœm. Abdomine atro fasciis albidis apice luteo.

Male and Female. Black. Head reddish; antennæ testaceous at the base; thorax testaceous in front; wings greyish, blackish-brown along the costa, and with three subcostal blackish-brown patches, the third continued along the veins towards the hind border. Male. Abdomen ochraceous, black at the tip; femora testaceous at the base; halteres testaceous. Female. Abdomen deep black, with whitish bands on the sutures; tip luteous. Length of the body 5-6 lines; of the wings 9-10 lines.

Fam. STRATIOMIDÆ, Haliday.

Gen. Ptilocera, Wied.

6. Ptilocera quadridentata. See Vol. 1. p. 7.

7. Massicyta Inflata, n. s. Fœm. Nigra, capite viridi maculis nigris, antennis basi ferrugineis, pectoris callis duobus scutelloque testaceis, abdomine basi sordide albido lineis tribus nigris, fasciis duabus cano-tomentosis, segmentis tertio quartoque apice ferrugineis, tibiis basi tarsisque albidis, alis subcinereis fusco marginatis, stigmate nigricante, halteribus testaceis.

Female. Black. Head dull green, with several black spots; mouth testaceous; antennæ dark ferruginous towards the base; two pectoral calli and the scutellum testaceous; abdomen at the base dingy-whitish and semihyaline, and with three black lines; third and fourth segments with hoary bands, their hind borders ferruginous; tibiæ towards the base, and tarsi, whitish; hind tibiæ with the two colours most distinctly marked; wings grey, with broad brownish borders; stigma blackish; veins black; halteres testaceous. Length of the body 6 lines; of the wings 11 lines.

8. Massicyta Cerioïdes, n. s. Fœm. Nigra, capite testaceo maculis nigris, antennis basi ferrugineis, pectoris callis duobus, thoracis vittis duabus interruptis, scutello abdominisque fasciis tribus viridibus, segmento abdominali secundo maculis duabus testaceis, tarsis albis, alis nigricanti-fuscis, halteribus viridibus.

Female. Black. Head testaceous, with some black spots on the vertex. Antennæ dark ferruginous towards the base. An interrupted stripe on each side of the thorax, two pectoral calli, the scutellum, and the hind borders of the second, third, and fourth abdominal segments green. Abdomen testaceous at the base beneath; first band interrupted, having before it two testaceous spots. Knees lurid; tarsi white. Wings blackish brown; stigma and veins black; halteres apple-green. Length of the body 5-6 lines; of the wings 10-12 lines.

Gen. Salduba, n. g.

Male. Corpus angustum, sublineare. Caput transversum; vertex angustus. Oculi magni. Antennæ capite transverso valde longiores; articuli primo ad septimum breves; flagellum longum, lanceolatum, subarcuatum. Thorax longus, subcompressus; scutellum inerme. Abdomen planum, thorace paullo longius. Pedes graciles; postici longi. Alæ angustæ.

Male. Body narrow, nearly linear. Head slightly transverse, nearly as broad as the thorax; vertex narrow. Eyes large. Antennæ shorter than the thorax; joints from the first to the seventh short; flagellum long, lanceolate, slightly curved. Thorax long, slightly increasing in breadth from the head to the base of the wings. Abdomen nearly flat and linear, a little longer than the thorax. Legs slender; hind pair long. Wings narrow; veins complete, distinctly marked; first cubital areolet rather short, divided from the second by the oblique first cubital rim; discal areolet large, hexagonal; subanal and anal veins united at some distance from the border.

9. Salduba diphysoides, n. s., Mas. Nigra, ore flavo, thorace vittis quatuor subauratis, abdominis apice cinereo, pedibus albidis, femoribus posticis apices versus tibiisque posticis nigris, alis cinereis, venis stigmateque nigris, halteribus testaceis.

Male. Black. Mouth yellow; thorax with four stripes of slightly gilded tomentum; tip of the abdomen with cinereous tomentum; legs whitish, hind femora towards the tips and hind tibiæ black; wings greyish, veins and stigma black; halteres testaceous. Length of the body 4½ lines; of the wings 8 lines.

Gen. Stratiomys.

10. Stratiomys Confertissima, n. s. Fœm. Nigra, subtus ferruginea, capite fulvo, antennis basi fulvis, thorace vittis quatuor subauratis, scutelli margine fulvo, ventre piceo basi testaceo, pedibus fulvis nigro fasciatis; alis subcinereis, venis stigmateque nigris, halteribus testaceis.

Female. Black, ferruginous beneath. Head, antennæ at the base, border of the scutellum, and legs tawny; antennæ a little shorter than the breadth of the head; thorax with four slightly gilded stripes; abdomen beneath piceous, testaceous at the base; femora and tibiæ with broad black bands; wings greyish, stigma and veins black; halteres testaceous. Length of the body 4 lines; of the wings 7½ lines.

11. Stratiomys Nexura, n. s. Mas et Fœm. Nigra, antennis basi fulvis, capite transverso brevioribus, abdominis lateribus, ventre, tibiis, tarsis halteribusque fulvis, alis limpidis, venis testaceis. Mas. Thorace atro piloso. Fœm. Thorace nigro-æneo angustiore.

Male and female. Black. Head rather prominent; antennæ tawny towards the base, shorter than the breadth of the head; spines of the scutellum, abdomen beneath, tibiæ, tarsi, and halteres tawny; wings limpid, veins testaceous. Male. Thorax deep black, pilose; abdomen tawny along each side. Female. Head shining; thorax æneous black, narrower than that of the male; abdomen with the tawny stripes much narrower than those of the male. Length of the body 3½ lines; of the wings 6½ lines.

Gen. Clitellaria, Meigen.

12. Clitellaria bivittata, Fabr. See Vol. I. p. 7.

Gen. Gabaza, n. g.

Fœm. Corpus breve, latum. Caput transversum, thorace paullo angustius; facies valde obliqua. Antennæ capite transverso breviores; articuli breves, transversi; arista longa, gracilis, filiformis. Scutellum prominens, spinis duabus minutis. Abdomen transversum, thorace multo latius. Pedes graciles, breviusculi. Alæ sat angustæ; venæ tenues.

Female. Body short, broad. Head transverse, a little narrower than the thorax; face very oblique. Antennæ shorter than the breadth of the head; joints short, transverse; arista slender, filiform, longer than the preceding part, which is lanceolate. Scutellum prominent, armed with two minute spines. Abdomen transverse, much broader than the thorax. Legs slender, somewhat short. Wings rather narrow; veins feeble, in structure like those of Stratiomys.

13. Gabaza argentea, n. s. Fœm. Nigra, antennis fulvis, arista alba, thorace abdomineque argenteo-tomentosis, tarsis albido-testaceis, alis limpidis, venis pallidis.

Female. Coal-black. Antennæ tawny, arista white; thorax and abdomen with bright silvery tomentum; tarsi whitish testaceous; wings limpid, veins pale. Length of the body 2 lines; of the wings 3½ lines.

Gen. Sargus, Fabr.

14. Sargus metallinus, Fabr. See Vol. I. p. 110.

15. Sargus complens, n. s. Fœm. Rufescente-fulvus, capitis vertice nigro, antennis testaceis, abdomine fasciis latis abbreviatis piceis, tarsis posticis basi tibiisque posticis nigris, alis cinereis, basi subluridis, apud costam exteriorem nigro-fuscis.

Female. Reddish tawny. Head black above, testaceous beneath; antennæ testaceous; abdomen with four broad abbreviated piceous bands; legs tawny, hind tibiæ black with a tawny apical mark, hind tarsi black towards the base; wings greyish, slightly lurid towards the base, blackish-brown about the exterior part of the costa, veins black, tawny towards the base; halteres testaceous, tawny towards the tips. Length of the body 6 lines; of the wings 14 lines.

16. Sargus rogans, n. s. Mas et Fœm. Capitis vertice nigro, antennis pedibusque testaceis, tibiis tarsisque posticis nigris, alis subcinereis apice obscurioribus. Mas. Luteo-testaceus. Fœm. Ferrugineus.

Male and Female. Head black above; antennæ and legs testaceous; hind tibiæ and hind tarsi black; wings greyish, darker towards their tips; veins black, tawny towards the base. Male. Lutescent testaceous. Female. Ferruginous; wings darker than those of the male. Length of the body 5 lines; of the wings 10 lines.

Gen. Nerua, n. g.

Fœm. Corpus longiusculum, sublineare. Caput transversum, thorace non latius. Antennæ breves; articulus tertius rotundus; arista apicalis, longa, tenuis, setiformis. Thorax productus. Scutellum spinis quatuor longiusculis. Abdomen depressum, sublineare, thorace vix latius, non longius. Pedes graciles, non longi. Alæ angustæ; venæ bene determinatæ.

Female. Body rather long, nearly linear. Head transverse, not broader than the thorax. Antennæ short; third joint round; arista apical, long, slender, setiform. Thorax long. Abdomen flat, thin, nearly linear, hardly broader and not longer than the thorax. Legs slender, not long. Wings narrow; veins distinctly marked, in structure like those of Clitellaria.

This genus may be distinguished from Culcua by the shape of the abdomen.

17. Nerua scenopinoïdes, n. s. Fœm. Atra, nitens, antennis fulvis, scutelli spinis pedibusque albis, alis nigro-cinereis, postice pallidioribus, venis nigris, halteribus testaceis.

Female. Coal-black, shining; antennæ tawny; thorax slightly tomentose; spines of the scutellum and legs white; wings blackish grey, paler towards the hind border, veins black; halteres testaceous. Length of the body 3 lines; of the wings 5 lines.

Gen. Adraga, n. g.

Mas. Corpus sublineare. Caput thorace non latius. Oculi connexi. Antennæ brevissimæ; articulus tertius rotundus; arista apicalis, gracilis, setiformis. Thorax sutura transversa bene determinata. Scutellum prominens, trigonum, marginatum. Abdomen thorace paullo brevius, non latius. Pedes breviusculi, validi, non dilatati. Alæ mediocres.

Male. Body nearly linear, rather thick. Head not broader than the thorax. Eyes connected. Antennæ very short; third joint round; arista apical, long, slender, setiform. Thorax with the transverse suture very distinct. Scutellum prominent, triangular, with a border. Abdomen a little shorter and not broader than the thorax. Legs stout, rather short, not dilated. Wings moderately broad; veins in structure like those of Clitellaria.

18. Adraga univitta, n. s. Mas. Nigra, subtilissime punctata, antennis piceis, thorace vitta cinerea, tarsis posterioribus albis, alis nigricantibus.

Male. Coal-black, hardly shining; antennæ piceous; thorax and abdomen very minutely punctured; thorax with a stripe of cinereous tomentum; posterior tarsi white; wings blackish, veins black. Length of the body 3 lines; of the wings 5 lines.

Gen. Obrapa, n. g.

Fœm. Corpus breve, latum, crassum, convexum. Caput transversum, thorace angustius. Antennæ breves; articulus tertius rotundus; arista apicalis, gracilis, setiformis. Thorax sutura transversa bene determinata. Abdomen transversum, thorace paullo latius, valde brevius. Pedes breviusculi, validi; antici subdilatati. Alæ mediocres.

Female. Body short, broad, thick, convex. Head transverse, narrower than the thorax. Antennæ short; third joint round; arista apical, slender, setiform. Thorax with the transverse suture very distinct. Scutellum large, prominent, with a marginal suture. Abdomen transverse, a little broader than the thorax, and not more than half its length. Legs stout, rather short, the fore pair slightly dilated. Wings moderately broad, veins rather irregular; discal areolet large, quadrilateral; externo-medial veins, subanal vein, and anal vein very slight; subanal vein and anal vein united at some distance from the border.

19. Obrapa perilampoïdes, n. s. Fœm. Atra, nitens, subtilissime punctata, capite glabro, antennis piceis, tarsis posterioribus albidis, alis limpidis, venis albidis basi nigris, halteribus niveis.

Female. Deep black, shining, very minutely punctured; head smooth; antennæ piceous; posterior tarsi whitish, with black tips; wings limpid, veins whitish, black towards the base; halteres snow-white. Length of the body 2½ lines; of the wings 5 lines.

20. Obrapa celyphoïdes, n. s. Fœm. Atra, nitens, subtilissime punctata, capite glabro, antennis piceis, tarsis albidis, alis nigro-cinereis, venis nigris, halteribus niveis.

Female. Deep black, very minutely punctured. Head smooth; antennæ piceous; tarsi whitish; wings blackish cinereous, veins black; halteres snow-white. Length of the body 2 lines; of the wings 4 lines.

Fam. TABANIDÆ, Leach.

Gen. Tabanus, Linn.

21. Tabanus recusans, n. s. Fœm. Piceus, cinereo-subtomentosus, callo nigro angusto, antennis rufis apice nigris, humeris rufescentibus, abdomine basi glaucescente, tibiis obscure ferrugineis, alis nigro-fuscis, apice margineque postico cinereis.

Female. Piceous, slightly covered with cinereous tomentum. Callus of the head black, long, slender, entire; antennæ red, black towards the tips, angle of the third joint very small; thorax reddish on each side in front of the forewings; abdomen with glaucous tomentum towards the base; tibiæ mostly dark ferruginous; wings blackish-brown, cinereous towards the tips and along the hind border; veins black; forebranch of the cubital vein simple, very slightly undulating, its tip, like that of the radial vein, clouded with blackish-brown. Length of the body 6½ lines; of the wings 12 lines.

Fam. ASILIDÆ, Leach.

Subfam. Dasypogonites, Walk.

Gen. Dasypogon, Fabr.

22. Dasypogon inopinus, n. s. Fœm. Piceus, facie aurata, mystace parvo albo, antennis ferrugineis, apices versus nigris, capite transverso longioribus, articulo tertio lineari, pectore fasciis tribus canis, abdominis segmentis ferrugineo fasciatis, alis luridis, apud costam nigro-fuscis, halteribus testaceis.

Female. Piceous. Face flat, brightly gilded; epistoma not prominent; mystax with a few white bristles; mouth black; antennæ ferruginous, black towards the tips, longer than the breadth of the head; third joint linear, longer than the first and the second together; pectus with three hoary bands; abdomen subclavate, nearly twice the length of the thorax; a ferruginous band on the hind border of each segment; legs mostly ferruginous; wings lurid, blackish-brown towards the costa, veins black; halteres testaceous. Length of the body 8 lines; of the wings 14 lines.

23. Dasypogon honestus, n. s. Lutescente-fulvus, capite, antennis, pedibus alisque nigris, thorace vitta schistacea nigro marginata vittisque duabus lateralibus cinereis, pectore postico nigro, abdomine ——?, tibiis tarsisque posticis fulvis.

Luteous-tawny. Head, antennæ, hind part of the pectus, and legs black, shining; mystax with very few bristles; antennæ almost as long as the breadth of the head, third joint long, slender, linear; thorax with a slate-coloured blackish-bordered stripe, a short slate-coloured stripe on each side; abdomen wanting; hind tibiæ and tarsi tawny; wings blackish, veins black. Length of the body 4? lines; of the wings 7 lines.

Subfam. Laphrites, Walk.

Gen. Laphria, Fabr.

24. Laphria scapularis, Wied. Auss. Zweifl. 1. 516. 29. Inhabits also Java.

25. Laphria aurifacies, Macq. See Vol. I. p. 10.

26. Laphria gloriosa, n. s. Mas et Fœm. Aurata, capite pectoreque albis, abdomine purpureo, guttis lateralibus albis, basi viridi, lateribus pedibusque cyaneis, alis fuscis basi cinereis, halteribus testaceis.

Male and Female. Head and pectus with white tomentum and hairs; mystax with a few black bristles; mouth and antennæ black; third joint of the latter linear, conical at the tip, longer than the first and the second together; thorax with cupreous-gilded tomentum; abdomen purple, green at the base, blue and with a row of white dots along each side; legs blue; wings brown, cinereous towards the base, veins black; halteres testaceous. Male. Legs very thick and pilose. Length of the body 9 lines; of the wings 16 lines.

27. Laphria socia, n. s. Fœm. Cyaneo-viridis, capite aurato, antennarum articulo tertio longissimo subfusiformi, thoracis tomento subaurato, vitta media nuda, pectore argenteo, abdomine purpureo-cyaneo basi viridi maculis lateralibus argenteis, alis nigro-cinereis basi cinereis.

Female. Bluish-green. Head brightly gilded, hind part silvery; mystax with six long black bristles; third joint of the antennæ very elongate subfusiform; thorax with slightly gilded tomentum, excepting a broad bare middle stripe; pectus with silvery tomentum; abdomen purplish-blue, green towards the base, with spots of silvery tomentum along each side; hind borders of the ventral segments white; wings grey, blackish-grey for almost half the length from the tips and along three-fourths of the length of the hind border, veins black; halteres ferruginous. Length of the body 8½ lines; of the wings 16 lines.

28. Laphria consobrina, n. s. Fœm. Purpurea, capite aurato, pectore argenteo, abdomine viridi-cyaneo, maculis lateralibus argenteis, alis nigricantibus basi cinereis.

Female. Purple. Head brightly gilded, hind part silvery, underside with white hairs; mystax with six long black bristles; pectus with silvery tomentum; abdomen greenish blue, with spots of silvery tomentum along each side; hind borders of the ventral segments white; wings slightly grey, blackish for full half the length from the tips and along full three-fourths of the length of the hind border, veins black; halteres ferruginous, with black tips. Length of the body 7½ lines; of the wings 14 lines.

This species much resembles L. socia, but may be distinguished by the difference of colour, and more especially by the more undulating first branch vein, by the much less oblique third externo-medial vein, and by the subanal vein, which is united to the anal vein much nearer the border.

29. Laphria sodalis, n. s. Mas. Cyanea, capite aurato, antennarum articulo tertio fusiformi, thoracis lateribus purpureo-viridibus, pectore ventreque argenteis, abdomine maculis lateralibus argenteis, alis cinereis, apice posticeque nigricantibus.

Male. Blue. Head brightly gilded, vertex and hind part silvery, underside with white hairs; mystax with four long black bristles, and with several gilded bristles; third joint of the antennæ elongate-fusiform; sides of the thorax varied with green and purple; abdomen with spots of silvery tomentum along each side, underside and pectus silvery; wings grey, black towards the tips and along half the length of the hind border; halteres white. Length of the body 7 lines; of the wings 13 lines.

The veins of this species are hardly different from those of L. consobrina in structure, excepting the third externo-medial, which is united to the fourth nearer the border.

30. Laphria comes, n. s. Mas et Fœm. Viridi-cyanea, capite aurato, antennarum articulo tertio fusiformi, pectore ventrisque lateribus argenteis, abdomine viridi (mas) aut purpureo-cyaneo (fœm.) maculis lateralibus argenteis, alis nigricantibus basi cinereis.

Male and Female. Greenish blue. Head brightly gilded, hind part silvery; mystax with six long black bristles; third joint of the antennæ elongate-fusiform; pectus with silvery tomentum; abdomen green in the male, purplish-blue in the female, with silvery spots along each side, underside with two silvery stripes; wings blackish, grey at the base and along the costa for more than one-third of the length, veins and halteres black. Length of the body 6—6½ lines; of the wings 11-12 lines.

This may be only a small variety of L. consobrina; but the wings are not darker towards the costa as in that species, and the first branch-vein is much more straight.

31. Laphria consors, n. s. Mas et Fœm. Viridis (mas) aut cyanea (fœm.), capite aurato, antennarum articulo tertio brevifusiformi, pectore argenteo, abdomine æneo-viridi (mas) aut cyaneo-purpureo (fœm.) maculis lateralibus argenteis, alis nigricantibus, basi cinereis.

Male and Female. Green (male) or blue (female). Head gilded, hind part silvery; mystax with a few black bristles; third joint of the antennæ short-fusiform; pectus silvery; abdomen æneous-green in the male, bluish-purple in the female, with silvery spots along each side; wings blackish, grey at the base and along the costa for more than one-third of the length; veins and halteres black. Length of the body 4½—5 lines; of the wings 8-9 lines.

The straight and not oblique third externo-medial vein distinguishes this species from all the preceding Laphriæ.

32. Laphria germana, n. s. Fœm. Cyanea, facie aurata, antennarum articulo tertio longissime subfusiformi, abdominis maculis lateralibus pectoreque argenteis, alis cinereis, basi subcinereis, halteribus albis.

Female. Blue. Head gilded in front, vertex and hind part silvery; mystax with six black bristles; third joint of the antennæ very long, subfusiform; pectus silvery; abdomen purplish blue, shorter than in the preceding species, with silvery spots along each side; wings grey, slightly grey towards the base; halteres white. Length of the body 3½ lines; of the wings 7 lines.

33. Laphria flagrantissima, n. s. Mas. Rufescente-cervina, capite aurato, antennis pedibusque rufescentibus, thorace vittis tribus latissimis (lateralibus abbreviatis) pectoreque nigricantibus, alis lutescentibus, plaga postica interiore fasciaque latissima exteriore nigricantibus.

Male. Reddish fawn colour. Head gilded; mystax with numerous gilded bristles; mouth lanceolate, very stout; antennæ reddish, third joint long, lanceolate, abruptly acuminated at the tip; thorax with three very broad blackish stripes; disk of the pectus black; abdomen with the segments darker towards the base, underside black towards the tip; legs reddish, stout; tarsi with black bands beneath; wings somewhat luteous, with a large blackish patch on the hind border near the base, and with a very broad blackish band near the tip; halteres testaceous. Length of the body 11 lines; of the wings 22 lines.