Dr. C. Colliugwood on Gigantic Sea-Anemones. 31 so that the skull, skeleton, and external characters of the fur showed P. niger to be only a variety of P. jylatyrhinus^ as Dr. Murie has already correctly surmised would be found to be the case. I finally have just had a typical brown ordinary P. platyrhinus prepared for the Melbourne Museum, and have found in it the small lateral lobes on the outer margin of the anterior third of the nasals, which I first noticed in the so-called P. niger ^ and of which there was no trace in five skulls previously prepared ; so that there can no longer be the least doubt of the black and brown individuals being only varieties of one species. With the P. setosus^ we have thus four well-marked living wombats, and at least two fossil extinct ones. While referring to Dr. Murie's paper above quoted, I may take the opportunity to remark, in reply to his observation that, in my description of P. latifrons published by Mr. Gould, I did not lay sufficient stress on the peculiarity of the softness of the fur, that I have there contrasted it with the coarse hair of the common wombat in the strongest manner, by comparing it to the fur of the English wild rabbit in this respect. Melbourne, Oct. 26, 1867. IV. — Note on the Existence of Gigantic Sea-Anemones in the China Sea, containing within them quasi-])arasitic Fish. By Dr. C. Collingwood. The most remarkable circumstance which I met with when wading upon a submerged reef in the China Sea was the dis-covery of some Actinige of enormous size, and of habits no less novel than striking. I observed in a shallow spot a beautiful large convoluted mass, of a deep blue colour, which, situated as it was in the midst of magnificent corals of every colour of the rainbow, I supposed also to be a coral ; but its singular aspect induced me to feel it, when the peculiar tenacious touch of a sea-anemone made me rapidly withdraw my hand, to which adhered some shreds of its blue tentacles. I then per-ceived that it was an immense Actinia, which when expanded measured fully 2 feet in diameter. The tentacles were small, simple, and very numerous, of a deep blue colour ; and the margin of the tentacular ridge was broad and rounded, and folded in thick convolutions concealing the entrance to the digestive cavity. While I was standing breast-high in the water, admiring this splendid specimen, I noticed a very beautiful little fish, which hovered in the water close by, and nearly over, the Anemone. The little fish was 6 inches long, the head bright
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