A HISTORY OF KENT many ornithologists.' ' For Maia squhiaao I have now therefore deemed it absolutely necessary to propose the new generic name Mamaia, being led to the choice of that particular form by the desire to cause as little alteration as possible in the sectional titles, such as Maiidae, founded on the older name and needing a correspondent change/ Of the Brachyura anomala the brown fur-coated Dromia vulgaris, Milne-Edwards, may, it seems, be claimed as a lawful prize for the fauna of this county. It is mentioned in the Handbook to Dover, and Bell says, 'The first intimation of the present species as a native of Britain occurs in an announcement by Mr. John Edward Gray, at a meeting of the Zoological Club of the Linnaean Society, as long since as June 22nd, 1824. These were stated to have been seen by that gentleman in Billingsgate Market, amongst some oysters, which had been brought from Whitstable Bay, on the Kentish coast.' ' Though the anomalous Brachyura Hke the genuine ones are devoid of well developed uropods, these missing appendages of the sixth pleon segment appear to be repre- sented in the family Dromiidae by a pair of small lateral plates between the sixth and seventh segments. In this section the last pair of walking legs, when folded at rest, lie more or less on the back of the carapace and they are often very short. The branchiae also are not as in the true crabs limited to a maximum of nine pairs, but often exceed the number of fourteen pairs which is found in the family Dromiidae. The Handbook to Dover says : ' Lithodes maia and Dromia vulgaris prefer the deeper water in the Channel ; they are only brought ashore at times by fishermen. The little Porcellana longicornis prefers also deep water : it is generally brought in upon scallops, and is also partial to cavities of Eschara. P. platycheles, on the contrary, is common under stones between tide-marks, a habit which also commends itself to Galathea squatnifera below Abbot's Cliff. Pagurus bernhardus, the hermit crab, which conceals its defenceless body in an empty shell of whelk or natica, is more common upon mud than sand bottoms.' These observations introduce us to the Macrura anomala, the anomalous long-tailed decapods, most of which are distinguished from the true crabs by having uropods, and those which are without these appendages have in other respects a different arrangement of the pleon. To the latter group belongs Lithodes maia (Linn.), the ' northern stone crab,' an extremely interesting acquisition for Kentish waters. The extension of its range to the English Channel is noteworthy, but the record would be much increased in value could more precise information be furnished as to the place of capture and actual depth of water from which the capture was made. Fishing boats sometimes come into harbour from very distant excursions, and may occasionally bring in trophies not their own obtained by exchange. It is however now well known that > Proc. Biological Society of Washington, xi. 160 (1897). > On this subject the specialist may wish further to consult Proc. Biol. Soc, Washington, xviii. p. 73 (Rathbun), p. 157 (Stebbing) (1905). 3 Zoological Journ. i. 419 ; Brit. Stalk-eyed Crust, p. 371 244
