290 Mr. T. C. Eyton on the British Species with 1 and the marginal ones with a pair of cylindrical blunt spines ; the dorsal ossicula with radiating groups of short cylindrical spinu-lose spines ; body with 6 slightly concave sides. Var. Body 5-sided. Var. or Monstrosity with 2 dorsal warts. Inhab. Van Diemen's Land. Ronald Gunn, Esq. 6. Asterina Calcar. Asterias Calcar, Lam. 17; Oudart, t. . f . . All the ossicula of the lower surface with a single central cylindrical blunt spine ; the dorsal ones with numerous short tapering spinulose spines ; body convex, with 8 rather elongate blunt rays. Inhab. Van Diemen's Land. Dr. Lhotsky, and Mr. G. B. Sowerby. 3. Patiria. The body pyramidical, coriaceous, with five rays ; the ossicula of the oral surface with uniform radiating groups of small spines ; of the dorsal surface of two kinds, the one crescent-shaped with series of small bundles of spines, the others bearing irregular round bun-dles of spines between them. Patiria coccinea. Scarlet, the body 5 -rayed, sides concave, the end of the rays rather slender, blunt. Inhab. Cape of Good Hope. 4. Socomia, Gray. The body depressed ; rays elongate, formed of imbricate plates ; the margins broad, the upper and lower series of ossicules being sepa-rated by a groove. Socomia paradoxa. Yellow. Inhab. r XXXIII. — Some Remarks on the British Species of the Genus Martes. By T. C. Eyton, Esq., F.L.S. It has been long, and is now, I believe, a disputed point between the writers on British Mammalia, whether or not two species of Marten exist in the British Isles ; thus, Mr. Bell in his excellent ' History of British Quadrupeds' gives them distinct; while, on the other hand, Mr. MacGillivray in the 'Naturalists' Library' is of the "opposite opinion. With a view of doing something towards setting this question at rest, I requested several persons living in neighbour-hoods where Martens are found to obtain some for me ; within a short period I have received four specimens, one of which ex-ternally presented all the characteristics of the true Pine Marten, having the bright yellow breast of that species ; another agreed with the descriptions of the Common Marten, was larger than the last, and had a white breast. Both of these I had made into ske-letons. The other two specimens presented an intermediate cha-racter, having the breast slightly tinged with yellowish : I have merely kept the cranium of one of these. I have no hesitation in
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