has a large manufacture of leather, and also a considerable trade, owing to its position on the high road from Bagdad to Tehran and Ispahan. According to Kinneir, it has about 10,000 inhabitants. [ASIA, pp. 469, 470.] The site of Ecbatana has been a matter of dispute; but the dispute has arisen solely because those who have discussed the question either did not know the evidence on which the question must be decided, or did not understand it. The route of commerce between the low country in the neighbourhood of the antient Seleuceia and the modern Bagdad and the high table-land of Iran, is determined by the physical character of the country, and has continued the same from the earliest recorded history of those countries to the present day. The places marked in the Itinerary' of Isidore as lying between Seleuceia and Ecbatana are the places indicated by modern travellers as lying on the route between Bagdad and Hamadan. This question is fully discussed in the 4th No. of the Journal of Edu cation.' For further references as to the history of Ecbatana, in addition to those given in the Journal of Education,' the reader may consult Bähr's Ctesias,' p. 88; the note on Q. Curtius, v. c. 8, ed. Pitiscus, 1708; and Wesseling'stions, has reduced the whole to consistency. The general note on Herod. i. 98. ECCLESIASTES, or THE PREACHER, a canonical book of the Old Testament, placed after the Proverbs and before the Song of Solomon. The English title is adopted from that in the Greek Septuagint ('Ekkλnoiaσrns, Ecclesiastes), which is a translation of the Hebrew title, Choheleth, that is, one who calls together or calls out to an assembly-a public declaimer. A review of the various learned interpretations of this term is given in Mr. Holden's work on Ecclesiastes, p. 31. Widely different opinions have been expressed by many biblical critics concerning the author, date, and design of this portion of the Bible. The Rev. G. Holden, in the preface to his learned Attempt to illustrate the Book of Ecclesiastes,' 8vo. 1822, observes that, In common with most other students, he has felt much perplexed by the many difficulties of this book; that of all the Hebrew Scriptures none present greater obstacles to the expositor; for besides the obscuritics possessed in common with the others, it has some peculiar to itself; that, with respect to the nature of the author's argument, style, and design, the opinions of critics and commentators have diverged to incredible distances; and their labours serve rather to perplex than to assist the inquirer. The general supposition that Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon is apparently warranted by the passages i., 1, 12, 16; ii., 4-9, which designate the author as the son of David, king of Israel, and the greatest possessor of wealth and wisdom in Jerusalem. However, it is not only doubted by some commentators, as Semler (Apparatus in Vet. Test., p. 203), that Solomon is the author, but by many other critics and divines of the greatest learning and reputation it is declared to be a production of the age of or subsequent to the Babylonish captivity (600 B.C.), that is, 400 years after Solomon, who reigned 1000 B.C.: Zirkel and others date it as late as 130 B.C. (Grotius, Prolegom. in Ecclesiastem; Hermann von der Hardt, De Libro Koheleth; Van der Palm, Diss. de Libro Ecclesiastes; Doederlein, Scholia in Ecclesiastem; Professor Dathe, Notæ in Ecclesiastem; Zirkel, Untersuchungen in Ecclesiastes; and especially Jahn, Introduct. ad V. Test.; and Eichhorn, Einleitung in das Alte Test., vol. iii.) The writers of the Talmud and Rabbi Kimchi attribute this book, as well as Proverbs and the Song, to King Hezekiah or the prophet Isaiah. Dr. Adam Clarke (Preface to Ecciesiastes, in his ed. of the Bible) asserts that the traditionary notion entertained by the Jews and many Christian divines, as Jerome, Huet, Michaelis, &c., that Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon in his old age, after recovering from idolatry and sensuality, is an assumption which never has been nor can be proved to be true; for since it was when Solomon was old, that his heart was turned away after other gods by his 700 wives and 300 concubines' (1 Kings, ii. 3 and 4), and as he died about the age of sixty, the supposition of a final period of philosophical and pious contrition is not warranted by probability. The language,' says the same divine, puzzles me not a little; Chaldaisms, Syriasms, and Chaldee words are frequent, and the style is that of the authors who lived at or after the captivity. Bishop Lowth remarks that the style is peculiar; the diction low, exceedingly obscure, loose, unconnected, and resembling conversation. (Prælect. 24.) The greatest difficulty in expounding this book consists in ascertaining the proper principle of interpretation; for many passages understood literally seem to sanction a belief in the nonexistence of a divine Providence (ii. 11, All things, time and chance, happen alike to the righteous and the wicked'); in annihilation or materialism (iii. 19, ‘A man hath no pre-eminence over a beast; both die alike; and the dead (ix. 5) have no knowledge and no reward'); splenetic repining is apparently sanctioned (iv. 3, 'It is more fortunate not to be born than to be either living or dead'); so voluptuousness (ii. 24, viii. 15, &c., Man hath no better thing than to eat, to drink, and be merry'); which is contradicted, (vii. 3,) where sorrow is said to be better than laughter. To clear the author from the imputation of teaching erroneous and contradictory doctrines, and promoting sensuality and despair, it has been suggested that the treatise is a series of counter propositions, or objections and replies. With this view Mr Holden has composed an elaborate paraphrase of the original text, and by qualifying and judiciously modifying the expressions and interweaving many ingenious explanaopinion of the commentators, that the design of the book is to inquire about the supreme good*, and to show that t consists in religious wisdom, is adopted by Mr. Holden, with the idea also of its consisting of two divisions: the first, to verse 10 of chap. vi. being occupied in setting forth the vanity of all the labours and enjoyments of human life, the second in eulogizing religious wisdom and describing its nature and effects. The learned Desvoeux, in his Philo sophical and Critical Essay on Ecclesiastes,' 4to. 1760 having collected and discussed many fanciful opinions of other expositors with regard to the design of this book suggests and maintains it to be to prove the immortality of the soul and a future state of restitution.' Dr. Graves adopted this opinion; but Mr. Holden rejects and refutes it, remarking that the doctrine of a future state is left in great darkness and obscurity, not only in Ecclesiastes, but in all the Hebrew Scriptures, in no passage of which it is announced as a necessary article of faith." Various fanciful conjectures have been offered in commenting on the figu rative language of the last chapter, descriptive of old age (See Holden, p. 161.) In addition to the works already mentioned, the following may be found useful for refer ence:-Greenaway's translation of Ecclesiastes; Hodg son's translation; Bishop Reynolds's Comment on Ec clesiastes;' Dr. Wardlaw's 'Lectures on Ecclesiastes. For numerous others, see Watt's Bibliotheca Brit.' ECCLESIA'STICUS, or THE WISDOM OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRAC, an apocryphal book of the Old Testament. It is stated to have been originally written in Syro-Chaldaic, by Jesus, the son of Sirac, a learned Jew, who travelled in pursuit of knowledge 130 years B.C. I was translated into Greek for the use of the Jews of Alexandria, by the grandson of the author, or rather compiler. for it is evidently a collection of fragments, written at different times and on various occasions, consisting of medi-, tations and proverbs relating to religion, morals, and the general conduct of human life. But though it is manifest that no methodical plan or arrangement was observed in the composition, the commentators remark that the whole will admit of division into three parts. The first extends to the end of chap. 43, and is occupied in the commendation of wisdom and the statement of moral precepts. The second celebrates the virtues of the patriarchs and prophets of the Jews, and extends to the end of chapter 49. The third part is comprised in the 50th and concluding chapter, and consists of a prayer or hymn, exhorting mankind to the pursuit of wisdom. These meditations display much acuteness of thought, with propriety of diction, and occasionally poetical eloquence. They closely resemble the numerous other oriental proverbs, and especially the collection attributed to Solomon. In the western Christian church this book was highly esteemed: the council of Carthage made it canonical, as the fifth book of Solomon, and the council of Trent confirmed the decision. It was also introduced by the early Protestant reformers into the liturgy of the church of England. Addison, in the 68th number of the Spectator, observes, that were this collection issued under the name of Con Plato's Philebus; Cicero, De Finibus;' Stobaeus, Eclog. Ethic.;' St. AuSee, on the question of the summum bonum, Aristotle's 'Nicomac. Ethics; gustin, Civitas Dei; Harris On Happiness.' fucius, or one of the sages of Greece, it would be regarded as one of the most brilliant moral treatises ever published. The opinion which attributes it to Solomon is falsified by several allusions to the captivity, showing that some parts at least were written under the monarchs of Babylon (c. 47, &c.), 400 years subsequent to the reign of Solomon. The Greek fathers frequently cite the book of Ecclesiasticus as 'Inoov Zopia, the Wisdom of Jesus; Hlaváρeros Zopía, the Excellent Wisdom; and Aóyos, the Rational Discourse. The Latin fathers named it Ecclesiasticus, or the Book of the Church, from its being then appointed to be read in churches. A Syriac and an Arabic version are extant. The Latin version, which is supposed to be of the first century, contains numerous words adopted from the Greek, but differs much from the present Greek text. (Ecclesiasticus, or the Book of the Church, by Luke Howard, F.R.S., 1827; Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, Wisdom of Solomon, or Ecclesiasticus, 1755; Sonntag, Comment. de Jesu Siracida Ecclesiastico, 4to., 1792; Bretschneider, de lib. Jesu Siracidae (prolegom. pp. 10-32), dates the original compilation 180 B.C.; Horne's Introduct. to the Bible, vol. iv.) ECCREMOCARPUS SCABER, a climbing Chilian half-shrubby plant belonging to the natural order Bignoniaceæ, inhabiting thickets and hedges in its native country, and scrambling among the branches of bushes and small trees. It has an angular cinnamon-brown stem, with pale-green succulent branches; opposite pinnated trifoliolate leaves, with obliquely cordate serrated leaflets, and a terminal tendril; horizontal racemes of tubular orangescarlet obliquely ventricose flowers, the limb of whose corolla is narrow and five-lobed; and remarkable oval compressed pods covered all over with short tubercles, and opening into two thin convex valves, within which is placed a number of thin winged netted seeds. It is a handsome halfshrubby plant, which will live in the open air in the milder parts of England. By some it is called Calampelis scabra. ECHARD, LAWRENCE. It is unknown when this author was born; but his translation of the Amphitryo' of Plautus was published in 1694. He was educated at Cambridge, and having taken orders, was presented to a living in Lincolnshire. In 1712 he became archdeacon of Stowe and prebendary of Lincoln. His historical works have long ceased to be read; but his translation of Terence is still frequently purchased by indolent schoolboys, who could not well buy a more unprofitable book. The characters of the elegant and refined Terence are made to utter all the vulgarisms and scurrilities of the eighteenth century: thus we have such expressions as the devil a person,'' damnable roguery,' 'fools' paradise,' constantly before us. Sir Charles Sedley has left a version of Terence's Eunuch' somewhat in the same style; but he has had the good sense merely to take the plot of the classic, and represent the characters as modern Englishmen; whereas Echard has committed the palpable absurdity of putting his ribaldry in the mouths of Athenian citizens: and to crown all, has written a most self-complacent preface, wherein he acknowledges he could not have followed his author more closely without destroying his design of giving an easy comic style.' We should not have been so pointed in our remarks on this worthless book had we not been fully aware, that while classical studies form so considerable a branch of education, it is of the utmost importance that the young student should not acquire those incongruous and absurd notions which he cannot fail to imbibe from such works as Echard's Terence.' E'CHEVIN, the name given under the old French monarchy to the municipal magistrates of various cities and towns. At Paris there were four échevins and a prévôt des marchands, whose jurisdiction extended over the town and adjacent territory; in the other towns there was a maire and two or more échevins. In the south of France the same officers were called by other names, such as consuls in Languedoc and Dauphiné, capitouls at Toulouse, jurats at Bordeaux. The last name, that of jurats, is retained in some of the English municipalities. They tried minor suits, laid the local duties or octroi upon imports, had the inspection of the commercial revenues and expenditure, as well as the superintendence of the streets, roads, and markets, the repairs of public buildings, &c. The name échevins seems to have been derived from scabini, a Latin word of the middle ages, which was used in Italy under the Longobards, and in France, Flanders, and other P. C., No. 563 countries under the Carlovingian dynasty. In Holland The peculiar structure of the group, consisting of Echidna Dental formula 0 Skull of Echidna. furnished with an extensible tongue, similar to that of species has been yet discovered, though two have been re- Size, about that of the common hedge-hog. Spines dirty-white for the greatest part of their length, and black at their extremity. Hair of a chestnut colour, soft and silky, in such abundance, at a certain season, as to half appears. cover the spines, whilst, at another, the hair entirely dis Food.-Ants, which the animal captures with its extensile tongue. Habits.-The habits of the Echidna in a state of nature remains during the dry season, coming out of the earth are but little known. It digs for itself burrows, wherein it only during the rains. It is supposed to be capable of supporting a long abstinence, and has intervals of suspended animation (engourdissemens), which continue for eighty hours at a time, and recur frequently when the animal is kept in confinement. be able to roll itself up like a common hedge-hog. For protection, the animal is said to Echidna, we are indebted to Lieutenant Breton, Corr. But, if we know little of the natural habits of the Memb. Zool. Soc., for an account of its manners in captivity, and for some suggestions which we hope will be attended to if this article should meet the eye of any one who may have it in his power to put them in practice. If they quadruped in the gardens of the Zoological Society in the are carefully followed, we may yet see this most interesting Regent's Park. Lieut. Breton had an Echidna which lived with him for voyage to England. The animal was captured by him on some time in New Holland, and survived a part of the the Blue Mountains: it is now very uncommon in the colony of New South Wales. It burrows readily, but he exceeding, in proportion to its size, that of any other quaddoes not know to what depth. Its strength he considers as ruped in existence. Echidna on ant eggs (pupa) and milk, and when on board Previous to embarkation, Lieutenant Breton fed his its diet consisted of egg chopped small, with liver and meat. the tongue being used at some times in the manner of that Its mode of eating was very curious, of the chameleon, and at others in that in which a mower It drank much water. VOL. IX.-2 L uses his scythe, the tongue being curved laterally, and the food, as it were, swept into the mouth: there seemed to be an adhesive substance on the tongue, by which the food was drawn in. The animal died suddenly off Cape Horn while the vessel was amidst the ice; perhaps in consequence of the cold, but not improbably on account of the eggs with which it was fed being extremely bad. Lieutenant Breton concurs with MM. Quoy and Gaimard in thinking that there would be little difficulty in bringing the Echidna to Europe, and the following plan is suggested by him for effecting its importation. Previously to embarkation the animal should be gradually weaned from its natural food (ants). This may be done by giving it occasionally ants and ant-eggs, but more generally milk, with eggs chopped very small, or egg alone. It should be kept on shipboard in a deep box, with strong bars over the top, and a door. The box or cage must be deep, because the animal constantly tries its utmost to escape; and, as it possesses very great strength, it is liable to injure itself in its exertions to force its way through the bars. Its excrements are so extremely fetid, that it cannot be kept altogether in a cabin, unless the cage be frequently cleaned. While this is being done, the Echidna may be allowed its liberty, but must be narrowly watched, or it will certainly go overboard. It is absolutely necessary that the eggs on which it is fed during the voyage should be as fresh as possible: they can be preserved in lime water. If milk is not to be procured, water must be supplied daily; and egg and liver, or fresh meat, cut small, should be given at least every alternate day. When the weather will permit, it should be fed once a day. Half an egg, boiled hard, and the liver of a fowl or other bird, will suffice for a meal. The animal should be kept warm, and should be well supplied with clean straw. It will be as well to nail two or three pieces of wood (battens) across the floor of the cage, to prevent the animal from slipping about when the ship is unsteady. (Zool. Proc., 1834, Part 2.) Localities.-Blue Mountains, &c., the environs of Port Jackson, and Van Diemen's Land. Echidna Hystrix. ECHI'NADES. [ACHELOUS.] ECHINASTRAA. [MADRE PHYLLICEA.] ECHI'NIDA, a family of radiated animals, comprehending those marine animals popularly known by the name of sea-eggs, or sea-urchins (oursins of the French). De Blainville makes the Echinidea, the second order of the class Echinodermata, and he thus defines the order. Body oval or circular, regular, sustained by a solid shell, which is calcareous and composed of polygonal plates, disposed in radiated order in twenty rows, which are either equal, or alternately and regularly unequal. The shell supports upon proportionable mamillary projections stiff spines which are extremely variable in form, and is pierced by series of pores, forming by their assemblage a kind of ambulacra. It radiates more or less regularly from the summit to the base and gives exit to tentaculiform cirrhi. Mouth armed or unarmed, pierced in a notch of the sheil invariably on the lower side. Vent always distinct, but offering many variations in its position. Generative Orifices four or five in number, disposed round the dorsal summit. Anatomy, Reproduction, &e.-Not completely known, notwithstanding the labours of Réaumur, Klein, Cuvier, Lamarck, De Blainville, Gray, Delle Chiaje, Tiedemann, and Dr. Sharpey, to whose works we must refer the reader. We shall only here observe that the whole of the Echinida are probably hermaphrodites, and that consequently reproduction is carried on without the aid of a second individual: but this is uncertain. On the European coasts the Echinidæ are observed with their ovaries in a turgescent state in the spring, and we may thence conclude that the time of ovipositing is the summer; the places of deposit are most probably the fissures or cavities of rocks and aggregations of fucus, and the deposit itself is made in one mass. Nothing certain appears to be known as to the development of the eggs, the duration of that development, or of the length of the life of the animal. Geographical Distribution.-In almost all seas, but more especially in those of warm climates, on rocky or sandy coasts, often free, sometimes sunk in the sand. The species are very numerous. Habits. All the Echinidae are locomotive, though their locomotion, which is effected principally by means of their contractile tubular feet, and in a degree by their spines, is rather laborious. Some of the species, which repose on rocks, have a power of eroding the stone so as to make a nidus for themselves, which is generally not deep. Food.-Animal probably and molecular in the edentulous species. Those whose mouth is armed with teeth are supposed to live on marine plants. Cavolini, at least, says as much of the sea-eggs (oursins), properly so called. Utility to Man.-When the ovaries of some of the species are fully developed (Echinus edulis, for instance), they are collected as an article of food. FOSSIL ECHINIDE. There are few animal remains, with the exception of the shells of the testaceous mollusks, which are better preserved than those of the Echinidae. They occur in a fossil state in almost incredible numbers, and are to be traced through all the formations, from the epoch of the transition series to the present time. Dr. Buckland remarks that he found, many years ago, fossil Echinidans in the carboniferous limestone of Ireland, near Donegal, and that they are rare in the transition formation, become more frequent in the muschel-kalk and lias, and abound throughout the oolitic and cretaceous formations*. Their abundance may be, in some degree, accounted for by the habits of a great proportion of them, which lead them to bury themselves in the sand, &c., so that their preservation must for the most part be complete. The nature also of the shell and its structure are other causes of fossil durability, for it is almost spathose in parts, while the animal is yet alive. The peculiar fracture presented by the shell and spines is relied on by De Blainville as indicating the place of the Echinidae in the natural series to be with the Encrinites, and not with those Zoophytaria which are near the Pennatule, as some zoologists have thought. SYSTEMATIC DISTRIBUTION. Breyn, Klein, Linnæus, Leske, Lamarck, Cuvier, Gray, Desmarest, Goldfuss, Von Buch, Agassiz, are the principal zoologists who have undertaken the classification of the Echinidae. De Blainville observes that the relative position of the mouth and the vent, and above all, of the ambulacra, are the principal points on which most of these writers have rested; and as he considers that this mode of viewing the subject has led to approximations not very natural, he proposes a system based on the following grounds:- 1st. On the general form of the body of the animal, which, at first subradiated, becomes, by little and little, completely radiated in all the parts which constitute it. 2nd. Upon the position of the mouth, which, nearly terminal and transverse, or bilabiated, in the first species, becomes completely central and circular in the last. 3rd. On the arming of this mouth, which, completely null in a great proportion of the Echinidae, is, on the contrary, very powerful in the rest. 4th. Finally, on the position of the vent, on the number of ovaries and their orifices, on the nature of the spines and the tubercles which support them, as well as on the disposi tion of the ambulacra. Bridgewater Treatise, Body oval, more or less elongated, heart-shaped, wider before than behind, with a furrow more or less profound at the anterior extremity. Shell delicate, of little solidity, composed of large polygonal plates, not many in number. Spines short, flat, sessile and scattered. Ambulacra incomplete, only four in number. Buccal notch more or less anterior, transverse, bilabiated, circumscribing a mouth without teeth. Vent terminal, and rather above than below the border. Genital pores four in number, disposed in two pairs. The species are very numerous, and are subdivided by De Blainville and others into sections according to their shape, &c. The following is De Blainville's method. Species whose ambulacra are not petaloid, and form scarcely but two lines, a little broken or bent at their internal side, and which have a rather deep anterior furrow, and the mouth not much in front. Example, Spatangus arcuarius. De Blainville observes that Mr. Gray places Spatangus Atropos in this section; but the former thinks that it sensibly differs from those classed under it, and places it in the following section. B. Spatangus cordatus, Ananchites cordatus, Lam.,) with ambulacra reaching to the border. Geographical distribution. In almost all seas, including our own. Numerous in the Mediterranean. Habits. Not known, but thev seem to live constantly burrowed in the sand. Food.-De Blainville supposes that the Spatangi are nourished with the animal matters which are mingled with the sand; for their intestinal canal, which is thin as a spider's web, was always found by him full of fine sand. FOSSIL SPATANGI. The species are numerous in the chalk and cretaceous group, and occur in the oolitic group. Ananchites. (Fossil only.) Body oval in its longer diameter (from before backwards), rounded and a little wider, but without a furrow, anteriorly, subcarinated posteriorly, conical, elevated at its summit, which is mesial, entirely flat below, covered with a very few small scattered tubercles. Ambulacra, to the number of five, rather large, divergent, comprised between double lines of pores but little approximated, and scarcely overpassing the borders. Mouth and vent subterminal and inferior. De Blainville subdivides this genus into two sections: the first, with the ambulacra prolonged up to the borders (Ananchites, Lam.), example, Ananchites ovatus; the second, with the ambulacra prolonged up to the mouth (Echinocorys, Leske, Gray; Galea, Galeola, Klein), example, Ananchites pustulosus, Echinocorytes pustulosus, Leske. M. Defrance enumerates 12 species: to these are to be added M. Risso's three species, A. carinatus, A. rotundatus, and A. stella, if they be distinct. De Blainville observes that Lamarck's Ananchites ellipticus most probably does not belong to this division, and that his A. Cor avium belongs to the same division as the Violet Spatangus Goldfuss has described some new species. Sub-Family II. Paracentrastomata Edentata. Genera. Nucleolites. (Fossil only.) Echinobrissus of Breyn and Gray, adding the Cassiduli. Body oval or heart-shaped, wider and with a large furrow behind, rather convex, the summit subcentral and moderately elevated above, somewhat concave below; covered with small, equal and scattered tubercles. Ambulacra, to the number of five, subpetaloid, open at the extremity, dorsal and marginal, and continued by as many furrows up to the mouth, which is inferior, subcentral, and anterior. Vent subcentral, above, in the furrow. Genital pores to Heart-shaped species, with five deep and straight dorsal the number of four. Example, Nucleolites depressus, Spafurrows, in which the ambulacra are hidden. Example, Spatangus Atropos. tangus depressus, Leske, Klein; Clypeus lobatus, Fleming. Locality, &c.-The species are tolerably numerous and are frequent in the chalk, but are also found in the beds anterior and posterior to it. Echinoclypeus. (Fossil only.) Body depressed or conical, circular or inclining to oval, with a furrow behind, convex and with a subcentral summit above, rather excavated below, formed of distinct plates and covered with very small equal tubercles. Ambulacra to the number of five, dorso-marginal, subpetaloid; the double central, a little more anterior, pentagonal, with five conrows of pores united by a transverse furrow. Mouth subverging, ambulacriform furrows. Vent entirely above, behind the summit, and at the origin of the posterior furrow. Genital pores to the number of four. De Blainville remarks that this generic section, established by Klein under the name of Clypeus, has been confounded by Lamarck with his Galerites, which belong to an entirely different division of the Echinidae; and he observes that they might much better be confounded with the Nucleolites, after the arrangement of Defrance. He adds that he should not be surprised if the Cassidulus scutella belonged to this division. Echinolampas, Gray. (Echinanthus? Leske.). Body oval or circular, depressed, subconvex above, rather concave below, rounded and widened forward, rather narrowed towards the anal extremity, composed of great polygonal plates and covered with spines, probably very sinal; Ambulacra, to the number of five, subpetaliform, not closed at their extremity, and nearly approaching the border. Mouth round, subcentral, and nevertheless a little anterior Vent entirely marginal, terminal. Genital pores four only in number Example, Echinolampas orientalis (recent). 2 L 2 Body globular, but rather higher than it is wide, ribbed, as it were, with about twenty ribs, formed probably by so many ranks of polygonal scales, and covered with very fine spines. Ambulacra five, very short, and not shut at the extremity. Mouth round, subcentral. Vent inferior and much approximated to the mouth. Genital pores unknown. Example, Fibularia craniolaris. De Blainville observes that this genus was established by Van Phelsum and by Leske, under the denomination of Echinocyamus, adopted by Mr. Gray. De Blainville only leaves under it F. craniolaris and the seven or eight but little distinguished or indistinct species which Van Phelsum established, and probably the C. trigona of Lamarck, but he says that he has seen none of them; and he adds that, in the genus as defined by him, only living species have yet been found. Echinoneus. Sub-Family III. Paracentrostomata Dentata. Mouth subcentral, in a regular notch of the shell, and provided with teeth. Genera. Echinocyamus. Body depressed, oval, wider behind than before, a little excavated below, covered with rounded tubercles pierced at the summit and rather large in proportion, supported inbuccal notch by as many simple apophyses. Ambulacra ternally by five double inferior ribs, terminating round the dorsal, not marginal, completely open at the extremity, a little enlarged, and forming a sort of cross with dilated branches. Buccal opening subcentral, regular, armed with five teeth as in Clypeaster. Vent below, between the mouth and the border. Genital pores four. Example, Echinocyamus minutus. from a considerable number of individuals of a very small De Blainville states that he characterized this genus species found in the intestines of a turbot, and which occurs in great quantity in the sand of the coasts of the English Channel, according to Pallas, both on the French and English shores. He adds that, very probably, it is the Fibularia ovulum of Lamarck; and that, without doubt, Fibularia Tarentina belongs to this genus, as well as Echinoneus Placenta of Goldfuss. Lagana, Gray. (Echinodiscus, Van Phelsum, Leske.) Body depressed, circular or oval lengthwise, a little convex above, concave below, with an entire disk and borders, composed of plates but little distinct and covered with scattered spines. Ambulacra five, regular, petaloid, shut, or nearly so at the extremity, with the pores of each side united by a furrow. Mouth median in the middle of a hole, with converging furrows and furnished with teeth. Vent inferior, pierced in a regular hole, situated between the mouth and the border. Genital pores five. The genus is thus sub-divided by De Blainville: Clypeaster. Body much depressed, rounded and rather thick on the Body rounded or oval, generally excavated below, comborders, sometimes incompletely orbicular or radiated, enposed of plates often distinct and covered with small spines. larged towards the anal extremity, composed of large and Ambulacra five, large, complete, radiating from the dorsal unequal plates, covered with very small, equal, scattered centre to the mouth, and formed by ambulacral lines, spines supported on very small tubercles pierced with a which are very close and impressed. Mouth central or sub-pore. Ambulacra constantly five in number, dorsal, petacentral, without teeth, and pierced in a subtriangular hole of the shell. Vent towards the border below or even above, in a longitudinal and subsymmetrical hole of the shell. Genital pores four. De Blainville subdivides the genus into the following sections: a. Oval species, with the anal hole longitudinal and below. Example, Echinoneus minor. B. loid, the two rows of pores of each branch united by a furrow. Mouth central or sub-central, at the bottom of a sort of tunnel, formed by five grooves and armed with five teeth. Vent terminal and marginal. Genital pores to the number of five. Living species few. Localities, the seas of warm countries-in Asia and America. Example, Clypeaster rosaceus. Fossil species more numerous and generally from the tertiary beds. Defrance enumerates eleven. Goldfuss figures ten new ones; but De Blainville adds a query Circular species, with the vent below and round. (Dis- whether they are all of this genus. coidea, Gray.) Example, Echinoneus subuculus. Circular species, which are depressed and have a margino-dorsal, nonsymmetrical anal opening. Example, Echinoneus cassidularis. De Blainville observes that no Echinoneus with the anal opening below is known in a fossil state; so that in the genus, as defined by Lamarck, there are no fossil species according to Defrance; but that in his (De Blainville's) method of arrangement there are many; and he remarks that Goldfuss figures four species from the chalk, but he Adds a query whether they belong to this genus. De Blainville states that this division of Echinidans was established by Breyn under the name of Echinanthus, which Mr. Gray has retained, and under that of Echinorodon by Van Phelsum. Echinodiscus. Body rounded, depressed, sub-quinquelobated (the posterior lobe a little notched in the median line), rather conical above, concave below, composed of plates in twenty rows, placed two and two. The ambulacraires narrower and covered with very small, fine, close-set spines. Ambulacra to the number of five, diverging by the complete separation of each double line of pores. Mouth median, round, towards which converge five straight and stelliform furrows. Vent marginal. Genital pores to the number of four. Example, Echinus Parma. Locality of the species.-De Blainville observes that it was |