seen hundreds of specimens from Tierra del Fuego, I have not seen one specimen of _var. nitidus_, or even of an approach to it in appearance; and, on the other hand, _var. nitidus_ is the common form in Chile and Peru; though I have seen one or two specimens of the membrane-covered variety from Valparaiso. Such facts strongly induced me to believe that these forms were specifically distinct; but upon careful examination I could find no other or more important differences than those just specified. Some specimens from northern Chile are in an intermediate condition; and from Concepcion, in the south of Chile, where the climate approaches in character to that of the more southern parts of the Continent, there are many specimens, in so intermediate a condition that I know not whether or no to rank them under _var. nitidus_. Thus I became convinced that these forms are only varieties. At Concepcion, some few specimens are pale purple, and yet are wholly invested by thick brown membrane, thus uniting the two extreme varieties. From California I have seen both varieties, but I do not know which is most common there. With respect to the great difference in aspect between the specimens from northern Chile and Tierra del Fuego, we shall hereafter see a strictly analogous case in _Balanus flosculus_. Finally, I may add that _B. lævis_ seems to represent in the southern hemisphere and on the west coast of North America, the _B. perforatus_ of Europe and Western Africa. _General Appearance._--Shell conical, sometimes slightly globular; surface smooth (that is, not folded), either naked, and in that case white or pale purple, or covered by dirty yellowish-brown membrane. Orifice small, more or less toothed, rarely exceeding one third of the basal diameter. Radii very narrow, often not developed, the six sutures forming in all cases deep and narrow clefts. The largest recent, but much depressed, specimen which I have seen (from the Strait of Magellan) was three fourths of an inch in basal diameter; specimens growing congregated are often much elongated. I have seen one with the basal cup between two and three times as deep as the height of the compartments. Of the ancient tertiary specimens, the largest had a diameter of three fourths of an inch, and a total length of actually two inches (fig. 2 _a_); another of these fossils had a basal cup in depth equalling four fifths of the entire length of the shell and basis.