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Show 372 PROF. F. J. BELL ON HOLOTHURIA NIGRA. [May 20, EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. Fig. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Fig. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Cioniscus gracilis, p. 341 striatus, p. 342. Odostomia suboblonga, p. 345. tenuis, p. 347. nitens, p. 349. PLATE XXVI. Fig. 6. Odostomia preslonga, p. 350. 1 c/»rV/aTCsCs/7a ,r t p..R i3SO5. 0. 8. unifasciata, p. 351. 9. sigmoidea, p. 354. 10. jlexuosa. p. 355. PLATE XXVII. Odostomia sinuosa, p. 358. acuticostata, p. 359. fulgidula, p. 359. attenuata, p. 360. convpressa, p. 360. paucistriata, p. 361. Fig. 7. Odostomia semicostata, p. 361. 8. Pyramidella nitidula, p. 363. 9. Mathilda quadricarinata (apex), p. 364. 10. Gegania pinguis, p. 365. PLATE XXVIII. Fig. 1. Eulima jeffreysiana, p. 366. 2. glabra, p. 367. 3. stalioi, p. 368. 4. solida, p. 368. 5. fusco-apicata, p. 369. Fig. 6. Eulima piriformis, p. 369. 7. ahbreviata, p. 370. 8. subumbilicata, p. 370. 9. minuta, p. 370. 10. obtusa, p. 370. 3. Studies in the Holothuroidea.-IV. On the Structural Characters of the Cotton-Spinner (Holothuria nigra), and especially of its Cuvierian Organs. By F. J E F F R EY B E L L , M.A., F.Z.S., Professor of Comparative Anatomy in King's College. [Eeceived M a y 15, 1884.] Scattered through zoological literature there are here and there references to a Holothurian, of which Selenka appears to have had no knowledge, and which Semper places among the " ganzlich zweifelhaften Arten," but which, unless patriotism is a fault in a man of science, ought to be of interest to British naturalists in so far and inasmuch as it is not only the only known British representative of the restricted genus Holothuria, but it is, so far as we know at present, the only member of the family of Aspidochirotse, or Holothurians with shield-shaped tentacles and no retractors for the pharynx, that is found in our seas. Discovered shortly after the publication of Forbes's ' British Starfishes '-which, like every other work from that accomplished pen, had a remarkable influence on his contemporaries-it was first mentioned and described to a scientific audience by Mr. C. W . Peach in 1844, who appears (see Report, 1844, p. 65) to have satisfied the members of the British Association that, in introducing to them the " nigger or cotton-spinner," he was speaking of a Holothurian new to the British fauna. A communication on this animal was read by Mr. Peach to the Royal Polytechnic Institution of Cornwall, and is to be found, with an illustrative plate, on pp. 171-174 of the 'Annals and Magazine |