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145) i :

JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY:

CONTAINING ITS TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS,

AND A SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

MeO MOG, ALIN DS 2 OE Asin (principally Invertebrata and Cryptogamia), MICROSCOPYWZ, Sc.

Ledited by

FRANK CRISP, LLB. B.A, One of the Secretaries of the Society and a Vice-President and Treasurer of the Linnean Society of London ;

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE AND

A. W. BENNETT, M.A., BSc., F.LS., F, JEFFREY BELL, M.A., F.ZS., Lecturer on Botany at St. Thomas's Hospital, Professor of Comparative Anatomy in King’s College, JOHN MAYALL, Jon., F.Z58., FRANK E. BEDDARD, M.A., F.ZS., B. B. WOODWARD, F.G.S., R. G. HEBB, M.A., M.D. (Cantad,),

Librarian, British Museum (Natural History), AND

J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A., FELLOWS OF THE SOCIETY.

Ser. II—VOL. V. PART 2.

PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY BY WILLIAMS & NORGATE, LONDON AND EDINBURGH. 1885.

The Journal is issued on the second Wednesday of February, April, June, August, October, and December.

ie Y, C5)

| Jin Ser. IT. To Non-Fellows, “&

| Wol ¥. Part 4. ¢ @UGUST, 1886. {price bs. |

JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY;

CONTAINING ITS TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS,

AND A SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO ZRooLtoGey AND BOTAN DT (principally Invertebrata and Cryptogamia), MICROSCOPY, ac.

Edited by

FRANK CRISP, LL.B., B.A,, One of the Secretaries of the Society and a Vice-President and Treasurer of the Linnean Society of London ;

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE AND A. W. BENNETT, M.A., B.Sc., F.LS., | F, JEFFREY BELL, M.A., F-.Z.8., Lecturer on Botany at St. Thomas's Hospital, Professor of Comparative Anatomy in King’s College, JOHN MAYALL, Jom, F.Z.8., FRANK E. BEDDARD, M.A., F.Z8.,

AND B. B. WOODWARD, F.G:S., . Librarian, British Museum (Natural History), FELLOWS OF THE SOCIETY.

BR 24” 2 a oP

WILLIAMS & NORGATE, | oN (A bet LONDON AND EDINBURGH, a4

PRINTED BY WM. CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,] [STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS»

f he,

CONTENTS.

——— TRANSACTIONS OF THE SocrmTy—

XI.—Tue Patnogento History anp History UNDER CULTIVATION

PAGE

or A New Baomuvs (B. atvet), rox Cause or A Dismasn —

oF THE Hive Ber HITHERTO KNOWN AS Foun Broop. By Frank R. Cheshire, F.R.M.S., F.L.8., and W. Watson

Cheyne, M.B., F.R.C.S. (Plates X. & XI. & Fig. 134) .. XII.— Experiments on Fuxpive some Insucts with THE CuRVED —

or “Comma ” BAcILivs, AND ALSO WITH ANOTHER BAcILLUS (B. susriiis?). By R. L. Maddox, M.D., Hon. P.R.MS.. . ,

XIIT.—On Four New Specizs oF THE GENus FLOscuLARTA, AND. Frve oraer New Species or Rotirera. By C. 'T. Hudson, Li.Di; WBMES. (Plate KIL) eine ise PAs aio et

SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES.

ZOOLOGY.

A. GENERAL, including Embryology and Histology — of the Vertebrata.

LAvLAWe—Unity of the Process of Spermatogenesis in Mammalia ... 1. .+ ve Dovat, M.—Formation of the Blastoderm in the Bird’s Hgg .. -. ue oo DaxestE, C.—Physiological Purpose of Turning the Incubating Hen’s Eggs .. . LascuenserG, O.—Colours of Birds’ Hogs .. 9.1 ts ww es Sarasin, P. B. & C, F.—Development of Epicrium ..

° ee oe oe

Ryper, J. A——Translocation forwards of the Rudiments of the Pelvic Fins an

the Embryos of Physoclist Fishes... aeatiehte Loew, 0., & T. Boxorny—Silver-reducing Animal Organs

Coreman, J. J., & M‘Kenpricx—Hfects of Very Low Temperat Organisms

Bett, F. JerrRey—Bell’s “ Comparative Anatomy and. Physiology ; i B. INVERTEBRATA.

Ricnarp—Action of Cocain on Invertebrates... ss 0 ace MaoMonn, C, A.—Enterochlorophyll and Allied Pigments...

Mollusca.

ViatteTon, L.—Buecal Membrane of Cephalopoda...) .. .. Gurritus, A. B— Pancreatic Function of the Cephalopod Liver Patten, W.—Artificial Fecundation of Mollusca... .. .. 2... Brocg, J.—Development of Generative Organs of Pulmonata » .. Fou, H.—Microscopic Anatomy of Dentalium

Bouran, L.—Nervous System of Fissurella °.. SE EG ON a

Porter, J.—Anatomy and Systematic Position of Halia priamus Risso .. 5 Vayssiire, A.—Tectibranchiata of the Gulf of Marseilles .. Nevumayr, M.—Classification of the Lamellibranchs Ziecurr, H. E.—Development of Cycles Coniige 062i Lyte Sara : chs Menu in which Lamellibranchs attach themselves ets. a,

Macponatp, J. D.—General Characters of Cymbulia i

Molluscoida.

a. Tunicata. | Srpiicer, O.—Development of Social Ascidians .. ., .. ra Niel BarRnois, J.— Genetic Cycle and Germination of Anchinia.. 2. vs Rovuz, L.—New Species of Simple Ascidians

ures on Living —

ae or Co eo ee ee we A

ce ee ee eo eo oo

581 602

608

eee |

8, Polyzoa.

Harmer, 8. F.—Structure and Development of Loxosomaé ..° .. MacGiniryray, P. H.—Australian Bryozoa.: .. ee es

y. Brachiopoda.

Joustn—Anatomy of Crania 2. 9 se ee ne eee we Arthropoda. « Insecta. Hickson, S. J.—Eye and Optic Tract of Insects... Zeiier, R.—Tracks of Insects resembling the Impression of Plants”

Water, A.— Morphology of the Lepidoptera

Packarn, A. S.—Number of Abdominal Segments : in Lepidopier ous Larvae

Lex, A. B.—Structure of the Halteres of Diptera... s Rowsovzs, J. E.—Movement of Flies on Smooth Surfaces Ss Crevrzpure, N.—Circulation in Ephemera Larve —-.

SomMMER, ‘A.——Maecrotoma plumbea .. 9.2 oe eS B. Mysiopoda-

Larzet’s Myriopods of Austria .... e 8. peene ak é

a E. Rayv—New Hypothesis as to the Relepiepety ae the Prt Ri, a

Scorpio to the Gill-book of Limulus... ay PELsENEER, P.—Coxal Glands of Mygale 6s nee ee ae ee .- Daut, F.—Anatomy of Spiders... SS ea stig ; ‘MacCoox— Hibernation and Winter Habits of Spiders

e. Crustacea, “ SPENCER, W. Bitowin Urinary Organs of Amphipoda

a ~-Brano, H.—Development of the Egg and auser of the Primitive Layers v

Cuma Rathkit.. .. ES DR SEIS Bp _URBANOVICS, F.— Development ‘of Cyclops EA opeSnectea Hoek, P. P. Again} of the pias wat BNA dce: aly Ha tn fei soe abl N.—Embryology of Balanus.. 966 +e ue eee ie

beer ! Vornes. “ -Vorer, W. —Oogenesis and § ey. in Branchiobdella .. .. _ Lespy, J.—New Parasitic Leech .. BED be AS ier By ENS ~ Micnartsen, W.—Archenchytreus Movit’ <.. Wes Wen, si

_ Provot, G.—Nervous System of Polychxtous Meds Bab Gaiedh ook 4 J. W.—Larval forms of Spirorbis borealis ., Scuanrr, R.—Skin and Nervous System Bs fi Lies and. t Halioryptas - Jour, L.— Development of Spherularia bomb 2205) _ Ferument, L.—New Nematoid from Matasoin Ligh Me RODOEL sant eins ~ Nremmmo, J.—Nervous System of Bothriocephalide 9.0 4.3. a ‘Zsouoxke, F.—Parasites of Fresh-water Wishes 2... 6. uns /-MameaY-WaicuT, R.—Free-swimming Sporocyst.. 6s 6s aes ASLAWZEW, Mile. 8.—Development of Turbellaria .. «. . - Smum1ax, W. A.—Fresh-water Turbellaria of North America .,.. Gesu W.—Later Stages in the Development of Balanoglossus a

cf eh iad Echinodermata. Ps Spat gs bate ee of Echinoderms’ ..° .. ts ee - ~ Dunoan, P, Marti. Suapen—Arbaciade - ees ens

- Hamann, 0. —Histology of Asterida

Canvey, P. Henspar—Stallced Orinoids of the ‘ Challenger’ Expedition =

ie Fatt of Comatula.. 2s sey ay ae as ' -. Geelenterata.

» Bais Ww. ‘M.— Australian Hydroid Zoophytes - Or ete

-_. Lexvenrevp, R. voy—Cwlenterates of the ‘Southern Boas pare

| Maem, C. A.--Chromatology Of ADAMS phe a's S845 as

eh Porifera.

. _ pars F. ‘BE Raahonship o nges to Choano-flagellata .. ie - Canrer, H. J.—New Variely of J asd Gostins Ward bin oh ad: di ile E.—New Fresh-water Sponge ve

ANSEN, G, A. Bl i a) the Nore North Sea "Expedition 4

> AM

,

poh Sets ~

ee,

Protozoa. PAGE Grusee, A.—Further Experiments on the Arti, ‘ficial Division of Infusoria eee ROSE Sroxes, A. C.— ee with two Contractile Vesicles .. Peer REA. NS: i Jew Fresh-water Infusoria . Be Gt tp OOD Kr NT, W. eee: Taptartal Parasites of the Tasmanian White Ante 662 Buck, E.—Unstalked Variety of Pedepinds as eine ; wee ee ey | 662 Lock ywoon, Be ~ Peeudo- cyclosis as Se Me EAT MT ME es oe NE DreEcKke, 'T.—New Protozoon .. PORES es ED Gas i eT a ee RRUSCHHAUPT, e. —Development of Monocystid Gregarines Be ye Ee ae ee BOTANY. eg A. GENERAL, including the Anatomy and Physiclogs ues of the Phanerogamia. ee ithe a. Anatomy. : ft : ‘Vries, H. pe—Cireulation and Rotation of. Restopiaem as a means of oa of ‘i Food-matertal..° . ; BR Tassie GuienarD, L.—Divison of the Cell-nucleus 4 an > Planis and Animals - .. 666. Frommann, C.—Changes in the ona # POE Call and in the ¢ Hairs of aks Pelargonium zonale . : Co, 668, ba Carnoy’s (J. B.) Biology of the Cell aid (ight spas aca a OBOE Nae RBINEE, J. nape oie of Solutions ‘of Citoraphuit a Light 669 Waescnemer, R.—Spectra of the Pigments of Green Leaves and their Derivatives CEO. 3 Wortmann, J.—Red Pigment in Flowering Plants .. OO (0

Anryaup—identity of the Orange-red Colouring Matter of Leaves with Car otine eae Ose eis Cuzont, G.— Formation of Starch in the Leaves of the Vine’ «. -. ae nd ee OT0 Fiscuer, A.—Starch in Vessels os Bi nar lanes E PI ce ae acc Obes vias 5 3 Mavument, E. J.—Presence of Mangariese in Plants. AOE LE ciny GIRARD, A.—Nutritive Pr operties of the various portions of the Gr aim in of. Wheat Pag ool Benen Prizm, E —Assimilating Cavities in the interior of Tubers of Bolbophyllum.. ... 671 Herxercurr, E.—Idioblasts containing Albuminotds in some Cruciferae .. Pe Tineuem, P. yan—Annular and Spiral Cells of Cactace® ..0 064 0 ee ee ae g HECKEL, "E.—Formation of Secondary Corte: 05 as. an 90 Vans Saag ine Moror, L.—Pericycle of the Root, Stem, and Leaves 62 vs

ScuENCK, H.— Changes of Structure in Land-Plants when growing vibmare CosTaNtin, J.—Epidermis of the Leaves of Aquatic rea telat Fis p kan eens Maris, P.—Structure of Ranuneulacer ... cp Heal at ck en cia ee eae Russy, H. H.— Opening of the Anthers in Bricacez 3. ss aalhy ae tle aaa Vesqur, J.—Anetomy of the Leaf in Vismiew 6. se ne ae ee oe ws Heinnicuer, E.—Reduced Organ in Campanula .. Po wd sc akg OWE Oar Savastano, L.—Hypertrophy of the Bud-cones of the Oarob 3 TOWNSEND, F.— Homology of the Floral Envelopes mn ie aan and C) Cyperacee Chua Ducwartee, P.—Bulbils of Begonia socotrana .. —.. peeenee

Masters, M. T.—Petalody of Ovules .. Mal Pence ntnetia dies ieee Haperianpr’s Physiological Anatomy of Plants .. ei atch phe eee ee ae Buunens’s Tent-book of General Botany... ce 1. eee Bei bara eer tis, B. Physiology. ; i By HorrmMann, H iP rodutian of Male and Female Planta os ee ae

JOnsson, B.—Fertilization of Naias and Callitriche .. 0. ek ee cat peaks Boysuan—Injluence of direct Sunlight on Vegetation .. — .. ; 5 Deneray, P. P., &L. Maquenne—Absorption of Oxygen and Evolution v Carton ee

dioxide in Leaves kept in Darkness .. des Bonnier, G., & L. Mancin— Variation of: Respiration 1th i Development a Wonraass, J. ~—Thermotropism of Roote.. 6 Kae) io Se ae Sonert, M.—Air in Water-conducting Wood .. ss ee ce ae ac tk Lapornav, A.—Ammoniacal Ferment .. .. RELL

Dierzent, B. E.—Source of the Nitrogen of the Tegan’ Nahticaptat Heine tees Anwarer, ae O.— Absorption of Atmospheric Ni itrogen by Plants... oe fe: ? B. CRYPTOGAMIA, | :

Cryptogamia Vaerularia, ne ZritwER, R.— Affinities of Laccopteris .. °° .. tj a

DievLarait—Composition of the Ash of E wiattane Formation of Coal. ‘ Ae A ee ep ee and ts Bearing a ts 681

TO6prrer, A. —Pransitional Equisetum SARS ONS. MRO PR TN I i Owe ABB ap é ee oo ee & abet Se =o Tee x!

(93)

Muscinee, PAGE

Haservannpr, G.—Conduction of Water in the Stem of Mosses .. .. 681 ScuLrepHackr, K.— Pottia Giissfeldti, a new Mos’ 52. ++ te ae oe we ne 682 Santon, LecLerc pu—Elaters of Hepatice 1. 2. 0s ee te te ees 682

Alges. Hicr, T.—Protoplasmie Continuity in the Fucacee «sss eae we 682 Bertuoup, G.—Fertilization of Cryptonemiaces .. 02s we tenet ee 683 WILLE, N.— Sicbe-hypha in Algo be se pane a an Se oe ee ee OBE Hanseine, A—Algz of Bohemia %. os ee) oe ne a oe ee ee ee oe OSE ~ Soa, R. "F.—Peiagic Alia 2 53 see be NOE See (abn ee Bike Toad dice ti nese "OO

Rasenuorst’s Cryptogamic Flora of Germany (Marine Algz) Sie

Taytor, H., & F. Kirron.—Diatoms and Bladderwort’ ..0 01 se an veo 689 MULLER, O. Structure of the Cell-wall of Diatoms (Fig. 135) .. 0s. +) +s ve 689 Van Havrox’s Synopsis of the Diatoms of Belgium... +. ae ee ee te 686

Lichenes. ZuKAL, H.—Structure of Lichens svi ee ee re ne a ae ae ae 687 seat pa J. M.—Algo-Lichen Hypothesis =... +1 > ee te te nee 688 oes Fungi. Scur6rer, J.—Classification of Fungi 1.010 ee he te ee oe ee ge ae 689 Fiscu, 0.—Development of Ascomyces .. iP Sirs eS ik ea ale NCR fe Kuen, L.—Nocturnal Spore-formation in Botrytis cinerea... Pee ere 8) Winter, G.—Rabenhorst’s sb ok sine Flora os Sone (Fungi). Se oidas. 7 ONO ZOPE’S ig a it see Regine Mee My ee ona Protophyta. ~ att Biinscuis, ni — Distribution of Chromatophores and Nuelet in the itilnak penn’ +» 691 - Bruer, A.— Formation of the Spores ws CGS? WeoisG i; Ae ie aes 1 ~ Bonet, E., & C. Franautt—Aulosira . 25 ee ee ae eevee hea ae se) 692 “} Ricarer, P.— Microcystis .. HA Sor th 9 Ss) SE Wi gate goles cee A hose aL Wier nu Oa _ . Boneener, H. —Degeneration of Yi east. 693 Centres, A., & D. Cooutn—Effect of High Pressures on the Vitality of Pecans, and 215% On Fermentation. en pes Seaees 693 - Bécaamp, A.—Organisms Productive of Zymosis .. aS Wale Peta esto! tak ees ently Oee " WoLLyy, E.— Microbes in the Soil PA Ee aioe che as. Boe \ Free, D., & Resourcron—Microbe of Vuln Fever, Ne 694 LP Lorrier—Micro-organisms as a cause of Diphtheria in aig Pigeons, and Calves. 694 . _ ' Briecer, L.— Bacteria wey ov Thee oe se o- * oe ** o* 695 ; 696

_ Bruret, A.— Bacterium urex .. * * Moors, Srencer Le M.—Ideitity of Raden Sale (Thin) with Soil Cocct ... 696 Koon, Garrxy, & Lorrter— Artificial Attenuation ay fags anthracts... s+. +696

_ Bieetow, H. R.—Cholera Bacillus... ... CRN satiate ar ae ey atte Cad,

y Henscourr, J.—Curved Bacilli in Air and SL RANE GHG See eA RI RS Ea RE

7 6 yeaa oa la ait ted EEA nay, ea gine Sala. pee OS MICROSCOPY.

ait: Vee iY, he _ Instruments, Accessories, &e..

- Bavownsa Stage Microscope (Fig. 136)" EEN acy PM Gel MLN Se: a OP OR Porrarie Microscopes (Figs. 137-140) .. FRY aan ay DOTY ye Pe or aR ay TOMO cr A

- Prave’s Microgoniometer (Figs, 141 and 149) PAREN AURA Bean Thue undt sere. aks nate ea OM

2 Doonte-Deum Mion (Fig. 143) ‘ SAF She Nast @ Oe

ry | Bares" * Universal (Achromatic) . Pocket itieroseupa » Fig. 144). PS ie artes rhe 0: 3 .. Touman, H. L.—Lye-piece Micrometers .. - 704

_ Bovcwer’s Holder bie Pitan Prism and Goniometer igs. | 145 ond ii re a | Goypracu, E.—* An rovement in Objectives” uM

ee Wee, Wee Care and the of Objectives... i ies Fe Eh cg arcs al a ores. be Bie OE

Guerewrn’s Mechanical ome Objective (Rig. 147) ep aH eg ke MAGI veh Reet OR

{Se nites G.—Right-angled Prism “hggece! of @ Plane Mirror ss) .6 ie) ae od bey, (709

_ Gegrmayen's Abbe Condenser (Fig. 148) Bee byl BA ew Suetiee eo) hE

_ Torvan's batt spied Migec, Y4RAAS LY se eee Ladd Pees PTA

(82)

Bavscn & Lome Optical Company's “ Hiidseraed a ge 4 ae 152 ane ee a Se Nexson, E. M.—Jilumination (Figs. 154-170). aes Hawnins’s Observatory Trough... a gS ae eg Prinesnemm’s Gas Chambers (ies, 171 and 172) Le, ic er tialy, bttainte vores CNet alate

Deny, J.— Test for the Hand-Lens ..' .. per dedi fone ead cloeld Mere, 4 wlengilem ay APERTURE Puzzle Pigs. V7IBV15) ise) oe ee ae fee ae ne ee Noes bal Seas ee ee Govi—Discovery of Pseudoscopy Le Baa Wp i ao artis AO 796 nee Carpanter, W. B.—Focal Depth with the Binocular Seth ie ir sles Meee in male ale 78° ScuooLroom, Microscope in «1 +» wt Shieh ee oes a ae

B. Collecting, Mounting and Examining Objects, &e.

Lowe, L. a en Embryos elon che ei care ces ale eee 739 Brass, A.—Methods of Investigating g Animal Cells. ne betea ard Cee) oP te Lapowsky—Demonstrating the Nuclet in Blood-corpuscles .. et Prag ra Tizzont— Demonstration of Karyokinesis in Epithelial Tissues 6+ ve ee ABO ‘ Scm1ine, J.—Investigating the Structure of the Central. Nervous Organs .. 730 ees | Sanu, H.—Application of Bovaz-methylen-blue am the Examination of the Central : eee Nervous System. 7 1 a Gotat, C.—Preserving Sections of the Nervous System treated ‘with Bichromate of Se Hae Potash and, Nitrate of Silver’... .. Vere he eas ee enemas

Zawanyuin, Tu.—Study of Fat-absorption OM 2 the Small Intestine... solo Me ean 53 : List, J. H.—Preparing the Oloacal Epithelium of Scyllium Caniclla .. 4. 2. 7B i MAvRICE, C., & A. Scxunein—Preparing Embryos of Amarzcium proliferum ~ .. 731

Gino, R —Mounting Insects without Pressure .. Se ce NOE dit Sune, H.—Mounting the Proboscis of the Blow-fly im Biniodide of Mercury thee 0733 i Emnny, C -—Preparing Luciola italica,... we) 133

Kuynet, J. v.—Preparing Embryo of Peripatus Bdwardsié and P. torquetus.. cane Ao

Courroux, E. 8.—Preparing Diatoms from the Stomachs of Mollusca and Crustacea BOTS Sanaa

Baysrrry Tallow jor Imbedding ... .. a, Monte 2) ales Vide ate

_ Biscumr, P, M.—Imbedding and Examining Trematodes te ah oe ge Harrin.y’s Rotary Section-cutter (Figs. ee and 177).. es ee ae et

Marx, E. L.—Notes on Section- eutting . aoe aroha eat SE oa Gite, oc gy gues Bia SPEE, ¥ -—Sections in Series .. Se ae re eee Cae Oa te Hamann, O,—New Carmine Solution hatte vee

Hicxson, 8. J.—Method of Preparing Hematonylon Statning Fig Ou ae aon BuzzozEro, G., & Torres—Staining for the Study of Red, Blood- -conpuscles sabbath ete Sanu, H. “New Double Stain for the Nervous System.. ; NE

Apamnrewicz, A —New Method of Staining the Spinal Cord Rr yoru Kurrrur, C.—Staining the Axis-cylinder of Medullated Nerve- fibres. say tine Turner, W. B.—Staining Desmids.. 2. 40 sn oe . isle) So'aye vial ~ Wire, A. P.—Boro-glyceride for Mounting. rip ries Rrareeinee ays Dovenas, J. O.—Litharge and Glycerin ds a “Cement. Hei Wa CU ea Ops aah ere Hamum’s Ideal Slide (Wigs. 178 and. 179)... eee ee seh beet iw Hays, J, E.—Finish for Slides... .. jan ‘

Hansun, HE. C.—Counting of Microscopic Objects for. Botanieal Purposes. ; Avgert, A. B., & J. Desy.—Styrax and Baleam peace cat am al ee Boureav’ of Scientific Infortnation Vea ebGirietet- Dowty a tii ag A New Departure ay lee Gi laa dese het Raat heen ta Rex, G: A.— Collecting and Preservin Myxomycetes op iri Aiea Seah one aa ee VOLVOX GLOBATOR, Keeping Alive ng MOUNTING cr sic ea teed swash lew ates Wevpiwe, H.— Examination of Malleable Iron ..

eo ee ee

PRoogEpines oF THE SOCIETY) 6425. ye

ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. COUNCIL.

ELECTED Mth FEBRUARY, 1885.

Hee PRESIDENT. Rey. W. H. Dauuncrr, LL.D., FBS.

VICE-PRESIDENTS. Joun Antaony, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.P.L. G. F. Dowprswen, Esq., M.A. Pror, P. Marts Duncan, M.B., F-R.S. Aupert D. MicuArn, Esq., F.LS8.

: ~ TREASURER. Lions §, Bratz, Esq., M-B., F.R.O.P., PRS.

SECRETARIES. -*Franx Crisp, Esq., LL.B., B.A. V-P. & Treas. LS. Prov. F. Jurrkex Bex, M.A., F.ZS.

Twelve other MEMBERS of COUNCIL. Josep Becx, Esq., F.R.A.S. _ A, W. Bewyzrt, Esq., M.A, BSc., F.LS. 33 ~/ *Ropsert Brarrawarre, Esq., M.D., M:B.CS., F.LS. James Graisuer, Esq., F.RS., F.BAS. -*J. Witt1am Groves, Esq. _ Joun Marrnews, Esq., M.D. - Joun Mayauu, Esq., Jun. *Jonn Minzar, Esq., L-B.C-P., F.LS, --. Unean Prironanp, Esq., M.D. | 2 Sruart O. Rivrey, Esq., M.A., F.LS. - - *Pror. Cuartes Stewart, M.R.OS., E.LS. ~Wiu1am Tuomas Surrotx, Esq. pee we “LIBRARIAN and ASSISTANT SECRETARY. Mr. James West. 5 * Members of the Publication Committee. » js - re oT an a $$$ : i ? eg ERT Sp EEN Ea aa Sige MEETINGS FOR 1885, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, January .. .. 14 Wednesday, May .. .. .. 138 ; -. Fepevanry .. 4. 11 pe SUNM, 5 ie he Lee AO

ee

9” gt “i xe, (Annual Meeting for Election of 3 Ocroppr .. 3. 7 eh heat % ssicmia etd 4 Novempre .. .. 11 Drie aati CRARBOR Fico pic, dao’ a

4 “ neo é —Aprin Je a. ja 8 ” DrcEMBER *. ee 9

ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THE JOURNAL.

ae Me ‘CHARLES BLENCOWE, of 9, Baince Srreer, Westminster, 8.W., is the a3 authorized Agent and Collector for Advertising Accounts on behalf of the Society.

i Numerical Aperture Table.

ese)

_ The “ Arerturs” of an optical instrument indicates its greater or less capacity for receiving rays from the object and transmitting them to the image, and the aperture ¢fa Microscope objective is therefore determined by the ratio between its focal length and the diameter of the emergent pencil at the plane of its emergence—that is, the utilized diameter of a single-lens objective or of the back lens of acompound objective.

- This ratio is expressed for all media and in all-cases by 7 sin wu, n being the refractive index o

f the medium and u the

Semi-angle of aperture. The value of n sin wu for any particular case is the “numerical aperture” of the objective,

Their actual apertures are, however, as numerical apertures. :

Diameters ofthe — Angle of Aperture (=2 w). Theoretical Pp Back Lenses of various 7 Tilumi- Resolving S20 Dry and Immersion | Numerical Water. |Homogeneous-| nating | Power, in | T4ng Objectives of the same Aperture. Dry Immersion| Immersion | Power. | Linestoan lich.| POW: Power (4 in.) Ce SEE ete) Objectives. Objectives.| Objectives. | (a2.) |_ (A=0°5269 « (-) from 0°50 to 1°52 NA. (@=1) | =1-33,)) (n= 1°52.) =line EK.) a 1°52 : on 180° 0! | 2°310| 146,528 *658 . 1:50 2 161° 237. | 2-250 144,600 “667 1:48 153° 39’: | 2-190 142,672 | ‘676 1:46... 147° 42’ | 2°132| 140, 744.1 685 f 1°44 142° 40’ |2°074). 138,816 “694 1/42 138° °12’ | 2:016) 136,888 704 1:40 134°. 10’ |:1:960 134,960 |) = 714° rt 1°38 130° 26’ |1:904| . 183,032 *725 1:36 126° 57’ 41°850} 131,104 *735 1-34 ~128° 40’ | 1°796 | 129,176 “746 1:33 422° 6’ | 1°770). 128,212 752 1°32 120°: 33.) 1°742|- 127,248. *758 ; 1°30 117° 34’ 41:690} 125,320 — “769 ; 1:28 114°. 44" |1°638} 1255392 "781 d 1:26 111° 59’ | 17588) 121,464 — “794 < ; 124 109° 20’ | 1°538 |) 119,536 *806 3 ~ 122 106° 45' | 1°488}... 117,608 *820 1:20 104° 15’ | 1440) 115,680 | *833 1:18 101° 50’ | 1:392) 118,752 °°} *847 en 1-16 - 99° 29’ | 1°3464 111,824. *862 Soe : 1-14 97° 11’ | 1°300) 109,896 ‘877 ‘ 1:12 94° 56’ | 1°254| 107,968 | ~°893 : 1:10 92° 43’ | 1-210}. 106,040: |. “909° ay 1:08 90° 33’ /1°166| 104,112 "926°, 2 : 1-06 88° 26' |-1°124} 102,184 943. feet - 1°04 86°.21' | 1°082 100,256 962. Why 1:02 84° 18’ | 1°040 98,828 }. +980 pagan ON 1:00 © 82° 17" |1:000|,. 96,400 | 1-000 tees es f 0:98 — 80° 17’ | -960 94,472 © | 1-020 ayaa - mae 0:96 78° 201} °9221° 92 5448-11-42 i ey EN 0:94 76° 24' | +884 90,616 | 1:064 Seas i ONG oh . 74°. 30’ | +846 88,688 | 1:087° oe pa 0:90 72°. 36' | 810 86,760 | 17111 aohes t+ 0-88 70° 44" |. 774 84,832 | 1-136 Layee: NTS Y 0:86 » 68° 54’ | +740 $2,904 | 1-163) Boe cea TTA Oe 67° 6" | +706} . 80,976 | 17190 oh 0782 65° 18’ |. °672).- 795048) 5 |. 1220 { ~.0°80 63° 31’ | 640: 77,120" 1 T260™ ke / 0:78. 61° 45’ | -608 75,192). = 15.282- : 0°76. 60° 0! |. -578| 78,264. | 1+316" BEA GAR a SAS ee “58° 16" | +548} 71,886 | 1+851- ae att (On¢e 56° 32’ | +518 69,408 | 1°389 70 0°70 — 54° 50’ | 7490} 67,480 | 17429. oy de O68: 93° 9! | +462 65,502.) | 1-471 ARE Pets: 0" 6G 51° 28). | +436 63,624 | 1°515. en ne Bent) Cates ‘OS Ba: 49° 48’ | -410 61,696 | 1*562 ~ a Ere Soe Or Ge. 48°. 9% |" #384 59,768 1°613> eo, 1 Kh 0760. : - 46° 30’ | -360) 57,840 . | 1°667 © Ne Sl @268 44° 51’ |, +336 55,912. | 1°724 a 0°56. 43° 14’ | +314 53,984 | 15786 ; 0:54 41° 37° ,°292 52,056. }T* 852° ~ 0:52 40° 0! ) 270). 50,128. |. 1-925". +90 *0°50.* 38° 24’ | -250| - 48,200 | 2-000 EXAMPLe.—The apertures of four objectives, two of which are dry, one water-immersion, and one oil-immersion, would be compared on the angular aperture view as aka har? (air), aay (air), ie (water), : ee ,

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OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS.

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PARTNER WITH

Rid. BECK.

PATHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PREPARATIONS.

_ Microscopes — 2 ; z for : ao | Students and a STAINING FLUIDS. \ hate. AND: ALL

ACCESSORIES £4 _ FOR STUDENTS’ . Seo ye

CATALOGUE, —

-100,NEW BOND STREET,

NB. SPECTACLES! 3 OGULISTS’ PRESCRIPTIONS RECEIVE PERSONAL ATTENTIO

' ; Y ; : ao RES _ AGENT For W. H. BULLOCH, CHICAGO, ILLS., U.S.A, R. H. SPENCER & CO., N.Y., U.S.A. _ JAMES L, PEASE, MASS., U.S.A. (oth M. PRAZMOWSKI, PARIS. | rpc a Mink AK : ~~ M.A-NACHET PARIS. ~ ihe be

JOURN.R.MICR.SOC. SER IL VOLV PLX

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Bacillus alvei,

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JAN @U LIVo

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OF THE

ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.

AUGUST 1885.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY.

XI.—The Pathogenie History and History under Cultivation of a new Bacillus (B. alvez), the Cause of a Disease of the Hive Bee hitherto known as Foul Brood. By Franx R. Quusuirz, F.R.MS., F.L.S8., and W. Watson Curynz, M.B, F.R.CS.

(Read 11th March, 1885.) Puates X. & XI.

Part 1—Pathogenic History. (By Mr. Cuesutre.)

Some indistinct references made by ancient writers as early as the Christian era to a devastating disease existing then amongst domesticated bees, render it not unlikely that the malady known as “foul brood” is far from a novelty; but be this as it may, it is

EXPLANATION OF PLATES X. anp XI.

Fig. 1.—Residue of larva three days dead of Bacillus alvei. 6, bacilli. Spores and degenerated trachez cover the field.

Fig. 2.—Healthy juices of larva.

Fig. 3.—Juices of larva (living) with disease in acute stage. a a, leptothrix forms.

Fig. 4.—Bee-comb from a diseased stock. a a, cells containing healthy pups». bb, cells in which pupz have died; the covers are sunken and often torn or punctured,

Fig. 5.—Cultivation in sterilized agar-agar showing the colony-form.

Fig. 6.—Same cultivation twenty-four hours later.

Fig. 7.—Passage of spore in bacillus condition.

Fig. 8.—Passage of bacillus in spore condition,

Fig. 9.—Bacillus alvei grown in blood-serum. a a, spores.

Fig. 10.— Spores in line from agar-agar cultivation.

Fig. 11.—Bacilli budding ? from a cultivation.

Fig. 12.—Cualtivation in thin layer of peptonized gelutin, showing colony- form and bursting-off of lines of bacilli.

Fig. 13.—Drawing from another flat cultivation.

Fig. 14.—Flat cultivation more enlarged ; the bacilli by liquefying the gelatin form tracks along which they freely swim backwards and forwards. a, bacillus swimming along track. 4, bacilli in mass. c, bacilli breaking from concentric rings of growth previously formed,

Ser. 2.—Vo1. V. 2 Q

582 Transactions of the Society.

certain that not until very recent times have its ravages become so wide-spread as to make it the terror of bee-keepers. Since the investigation to which I now invite attention conclusively shows that a bacillus is the mischief-worker, it will be at once understood why modern methods of management have been the occasion of spreading far and wide that which formerly existed, though confined to narrow limits. In ancient days bees rarely changed hands except at the death of the owner, and in our country, at least, the selling of a hive was even half a century back dis- countenanced as “unlucky”; but now bee-dealing is an established industry not only here but on the continents of Hurope and America, and the stock of the bee farmer having once become infected, is inevitably the means of distributing the fatal germs into the private apiaries which he supplies. Man not alone then suffers from diseases propagated by modern civilisation, but the animals which he has associated with himself necessarily suffer with him. Let us now consider this matter under three heads :— Firstly, the nature of this germ disease; secondly, the means of its propagation ; and thirdly, the method of its cure.

Ist. The nature of foul brood as a germ disease.—If a comb be removed from near the centre of a healthy hive during the summer months, its cells will normally be filled with eggs, larve, and pups in every stage of development. The eggs as left by the ovipositor of the queen or mother adhere commonly by the end to the base of the cells they occupy, and favoured by the high temperature constantly maintained within the hive, the germinal vesicle at about the end of three days matures into a larva ready for hatching. ‘These eggs I have shown are liable to the disease even before they leave the body of the mother, but most careful microscopic examination is needful to make this apparent (and of which I shall speak presently more particularly). On the contrary, the larve, which are constantly fed by the workers, so change in appearance soon after infection, that a practised eye at once detects the presence of the disease. Whilst healthy their bodies are of a beautiful pearly whiteness, lying, at first floating, in the abundant pabulum the nurses are ever at hand to supply. As they grow they curl themselves at the bottom of the cells until these become too strait for their occupants, which now advance the head to be in readiness for the cocoon-spinning which follows upon the close of the eating stage. When the disease strikes the larve they move uneasily in their cells, and often then present the dorsal surface to. its mouth, as I have indicated in the illustration of diseased comb, fig. 134, so that mere posture is no insufficient evidence of an unhealthy condition. The colour changes to yellow, passing on by degrees towards a pale brown, whilst the skin becomes flaccid and opaque; death soon occurs, when the body, now

Bacillus alvei. By Messrs. F. Cheshire & Watson Cheyne. 583

shrunken by evaporation, lies on the lower side of the cell, increasing in depth of tone, until in a few days nothing more than a nearly black scale remains. Should the larve, however, escape contamina- tion until near the period of pupahood, they are sealed over in the normal way by a cover made of pollen-grains and wax, plate X.

Fie. 134.

fig. 4 a, and which is pervious to air. ‘he cover furnishes a screen, on which part of the cocoon is soon after spread, but the inhabitant of the cell is marked out for death, and before very long the capping or sealing sinks and becomes concave, and in it punctures of an irregular character appear, fig. 4 > and fig. 134, and this is a nearly conclusive sign of the diseased condition of the colony. The sense of smell is also appealed to, as a peculiar very offensive and extremely characteristic odour now escapes from the diseased combs. The bees in addition lose energy, but become unusually active in ventilating their hive by standing at the door, heads towards home, and flapping their wings persistently so that a strong out-current, and as a necessary consequence, a corresponding indraught, are set up. Should any attempt be made at removing a dead larva which has assumed a deep brown tint, its body tenaciously adhering to the cell-wall will stretch out into long and thin strings like half dried glue. he microscopist can easily explain this. The thin chitinous aerating sacs and trachesw do not undergo decomposition at all easily, and these remaining, occasion the peculiarity referred to. These trachee are well shown in fig. 1. ‘The disease is terribly infectious, and once started, soon spreads from cell to cell and not unfrequently from stock to stock.

Should a speck of this tenacious coffee-coloured matter be examined by a 1/4 in., it would be found to contain Shan

2Q

584 Transactions of the Society.

swarms of very minute bodies which appear under a 1/12 in. as seen in fig. 1, and which dance in the field with a pronounced Brownian movement. ‘hese have been supposed to be micrococci, im consequence of some reported experiments made in Germany about ten years since by Dr. Schonfeld, of whose account of the same it is desirable here to give only a very short summary. He states that having procured some foul-broody matter (1. e. the brown scales mentioned previously), he by a simple contrivance aspirated air which he passed over the “foul-broody” mass through cotton wool, which then he found full of micrococci. But since he made presumably no attempt at staining, this state- ment, I submit, can only be received with great reserve. He adds that this cotton wool spread over the cells of a comb in which larve were advancing, the latter took the disease and died, with their bodies filled with micrococci. That lastly, having infected the larva of Musca vomitoria, it not only died crammed with micro- cocci, but that these micrococci communicated foul brood to pre- viously healthy larvee in the bee-hive. These experiments were ~ accepted as so conclusive and satisfactory that for ten years they were quoted as authoritative, but many observations which could not be reconciled with commonly received ideas respecting this malady induced me in June last to attempt to repeat Schonfeld’s experiments, with such additions or modifications as might seem most suitable to my purpose. This attempt has left me in intense bewilderment so far as any possible explanation of the causes of the errors into which Schonfeld undoubtedly fell. My results showed that in foul-broody matter no micrococci necessarily existed ; the disease could not be at all easily communicated to Musca vomitoria ; but that every dead larva of this fly contained micrococci in- numerable, and that when larve of Apis mellifica were artificially infected with “ foul-broody matter” the bacillus nature of the disease was incontestable, while no micrococci, and not even the bacillus spore which Schonfeld had taken for a micrococcus, could be discovered. The confidence with which I, at the outset, left the old ideas which Schonfeld had promulgated was increased by the helpful interest which Mr. G. F. Dowdeswell took in my in- vestigation, and for whose suggestions I now have the pleasure of returning my thanks. Taking a small quantity of the juices of a healthy larva and examining under a cover-glass, one is presented with the appearance of fig. 2. Fat-globules are numerous, whilst here and there we note the large white blood-disks, and scattered throughout may be seen minute globular particles with lively Brownian movements. But if a speck of coffee-coloured “ foul- broody matter,” as previously hinted, be similarly treated, we find neither fat-globules, blood-cells, nor molecular base, but observe amidst the remains of broken-down trachez the field crowded with

Bacillus alvei. By Messrs. F. Cheshire & Watson Cheyne. 9585

small ovoid bodies, as I have shown at fig. 1. These are the micrococci of Schonfeld; but if this substance be stained according to the plan of Weigert and Koch, and then carefully examined even with a good 1/4, we shall in all probability discover a very few un- doubted bacilli, fig. 1b. Whilst operating thus, the absence of dumb- bell forms and the distinctly oval shape of what I presently found to be spores of the associated bacilli, arrested at once my atten- tion. Now possessing myself. of an infected stock, so that the course of the disease could be traced, I submitted first the body of a grub dead, but in a fresher state, to the Microscope ; and here the bacilli were numerous, although still few in relation to the number of the spores. ‘hen selecting larve still feeding, but of suspicious colour, and examining their juices with a power of 600, I was delighted by seeing hundreds of bacilli actively swimming backwards and forwards and worming their way amongst the blood- cells and fat-globules, as presented at fig. 3, whilst the leptothrix form was not uncommon.

The examination of a larger number of larva, not only from the stock referred to, but from combs coming from various parts of Great Britain and Ireland, showed most conclusively that each in- dividual at the beginning of the attack contained many bacilli of an average diameter of 0°5 jy, and length 4 y, mostly swimming with a corkscrew-like movement, and that if an end view were obtained of any one of them the termination of the rod constantly described a small circle; that when the disease was in rapid progress, lepto- thrix forms were common, some of these even reaching 250 mw in total length; that as the fluids of the grub failed by loss of fats and albumenoids, the bacilli began to swell centrally, drawing the mycoprotein from their extremities, as seen in fig. 8, and thus gradually becoming spores, fig. 8; that after the death of the grub and during the assumption of the viscid, putrid condition, this constant alteration of bacilli into spores continues ; that after removal from the hive it goes on so rapidly that in a day or two scarcely a bacillus as such is discoverable, whilst the spores are innumerable, and, in addition, that a very cautious preparation of some broken down viscus showed that the bacilli and spores arranged themselves in that most singular line fashion (fig. 10) which Mr. Watson Cheyne found subsequently to be characteristic in his agar-agar jelly cultivations of the same micro-organism.

Since the force of conviction obliged me to deny the accuracy of Schonfeld’s conclusions, I felt it incumbent upon me to repeat his experiments, for if the disease be really due to « bacillus, how could the communication of it to Musca vomitoria produce, as he says, micrococci in that insect? I experimented on sixty indi- viduals: twenty were not brought near foul-broody matter, twenty I attempted to infect with bacilli in their active condition, and

586 “Transactions of the Society.

twenty by spores, but only three of the latter and none of the former contracted the disease. The general appearance of the tissues of the dead fly larvae much resembled that of bees similarly affected.

Striving to prove irrefragably the accuracy of the etiology I have given, I took a number of well-developed drone larvee from a healthy stock, and expressed their juices into two test-tubes 3 in. long and 1/2 in. wide. No.1 now received a very minute quantity of coffee-coloured matter containing spores, whilst No. 2 was in- fected with a trace of a bacillus-containing fluid from a larva just dead or dying. These tubes were each supported by a simple ar- rangement between the combs of a stock of bees, so that the tempe- rature for germination should be kept up. In twenty-two hours, examining No. 1, I found no spores, but that bacilli, mostly in threads, existed in considerable numbers, whilst the bacilli added to No. 2 were increasing by division, proving again that the spores produce bacilli so soon as they pass into condition for germination, the reverse process obtaining when these conditions cease.

The somewhat extensive literature of this disease had always gone on the assumption that it affected larve, but larve only. This position did not appear to me to agree with many facts I had observed; e.g. we may take away two or three combs containing 5000 larvee each from a stock, and it will continue to progress pretty much as though it had lost nothing, while if foul brood attacks it and kills say 1000 of its grubs, it as a rule very per- ceptibly diminishes in strength. The only theory that appeared to me as satisfactory was that the adults of the hive die with the disease, but that according to a necessary instinct they leave the hive and finish their course alone. Going to the diseased stock then in my possession, I noticed on the ground and close to its entrance one bee nearly dead on its back, another hopping in abortive flights of 3 or 4 inches, and presently found a third and fourth worn out and too far gone to enter the hive again. The first bee presented nothing remarkable, but the second was almost an empty shell, the air-sacs occupying nearly the whole of the abdomen. ‘The stomach and colon were exceedingly small, and the amount of fluid I could obtain truly microscopic; but this was full of active bacilli of the ' game size and character I had previously discovered in the larve. The third and fourth bees were in similar condition.

The consequences flowing from this discovery have more to do with practical apiculture than with general science, and so here I content myself with saying that bee-dealers who had in ignorance of the facts always proclaimed that swarms were incapable of being affected by it, and that queens constantly passing from one owner to another could never communicate it, were now to be told that this error had in all probability been the reason why foul brood had grown to be a veritable pest, and that large apiaries were in

Bacillus alvet. By Messrs. F. Cheshire & Watson Cheyne. 587

some instances actually dying out in spite of every effort to save them, and that in America alone the losses through it had risen to very many thousands annually.

Continuing the investigation, I found that a large proportion of imago workers and drones die of this disease if they are raised in infected stocks, and that this explained the marked dwindling in numbers in a colony from the very incidence of an attack. But further, if workers and drones are liable, why may not queens be so also? and if this be possible, may we not get a solution of certain peculiarities with which bee-keepers of experience are familiar, e.g. some months earlier I had imported some queens from Italy, one of which was inserted into a stock which quickly after developed foul brood, while the queen lived on six or seven weeks only. In addition, if the queen may be infected, why not the egg? In the case of pébrine this had already been proved to be the case. The bee’s egg is to the size of the bacillus enormous; its diameter of 0:36 mm. and its length of 1-8 mm. would enable it to accommo- date 100,000,000 spores of this organism, which stands to the egg itself as a single drop to 1500 gallons. Following this line, and knowing that foul brood had in some cases appeared to be more particularly destructive amongst the smaller larve, I not unnaturally judged that in these cases possibly the egg contained the germs of the disease at the time of deposition. I communicated my suspicions to several owners of large numbers of colonies, and explained what would be the probable peculiarities of genetic foul brood if such a form really existed. Mr. Hart, of Stockbridge, soon after sent me a queen from a hive which presented the indicated symptoms, viz. the early death of the larvae in most cases; the earnestness of the bees in attempting to raise a new queen, although their numbers were so small that swarming* was out of the question, this earnestness seeming to indicate that they were conscious of some unfitness about the mother, which they desired to remedy by dis- placing her, and lastly a continuance of their hospitality to drones at a period of the season when other stocks have destroyed theirs. The queen was fortunately alive at her arrival, and I forthwith commenced a careful dissection. Having removed the left air-sac (which lies within the first and second abdominal rings), which was very much above the average size, a constant indication as I have found it of the presence of bacilli, I came upon the ovary, of which I had upon previous occasions removed many dozens. This one was abnormally yellow and very soft, so that it was difficult to detach it from the larger external trachesw without tearing. I separated an ovarian tube and placed it under a second Micro- scope using 250 diameters, and at once saw four or five bacilli

* Healthy stocks only raise new queens in the prospect of swarming, or when the mother is fading through age.

588 Transactions of the Society.

swimming along with a lazy sort of progression. Detaching now a half-developed egg, and exercising great care to eliminate every possible source of accidental contamination, I placed the egg with a trace of water upon a glass slip and crushed it out flat with a thin cover, and in a few minutes I had counted no less than nine bacilli. The right ovary was nearly free from disease. During a prolonged search I traced three bacilli only, which may not im- possibly have floated on to it during the dissection. Many other subjects I have since had the opportunity of dissecting, some of whose ovaries contained bacilli in countless profusion. In one re- markable case the receptaculum seminis contained no spermatozoa, although the queen was young and had mated since she had produced worker bees, but was filled with a dirty fluid through which were scattered innumerable minute and irregular granules, amongst which swam large numbers of bacilli. Here then was a distinct point of incidence for an attack, which left the ovaries still in perfect health. A question of some difficulty here to my mind presents itself. The disease seems always acute in the case of the larvee, embracing all parts of their organization. This may possibly result from the thinness of their membranes, the freedom of their viscera, the frequency of invagination, and the rapidity of interstitial - changes in their case. In the imago, on the contrary, the disease assumes a chronic condition, and confined to a portion of the frame at least temporarily, may be several weeks, and possibly in queens

even months, in running its course.

The name foul brood, given in ignorance of the nature and scope of the malady, is manifestly utterly inappropriate. To say that a queen igs sufferimg from foul brood would be as illogical and ridiculous as talking of toothache in the liver. I therefore have proposed the name Bacillus alvec, which has been at once accepted and adopted amongst intelligent apiarians both in England and America.

The necessity of a specific name has recently become more apparent, since during these investigations I have found that bees are not only liable to suffer from attacks of the organism now engaging our attention, but from many others producing certain characteristic symptoms, and of which I hope to speak in particular in a future communication. The old notion that the adult bee had perfect immunity from diseases, and which no doubt was based upon the constancy of its external appearance ag the outcome of an external skeleton, turns out to be the opposite of the truth, and the Microscope has supplied me at once with the means of explaining observed singularities in special stocks by revealing in each case disease organisms of some destructive type. These industrious creatures live in numerous colonies, of which the members are

always in the closest contact; their usual system of communication

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is by actual touch ; they habitually pass their food from one stomach to another; all food has been carried either within or upon the bodies of their fellows; their very home is formed of one of their secretions; and their beds, cradles, and larders are all interchange- able. These are the conditions indeed in which disease organisms have the highest opportunity of running riot, and which makes the discovery of many pathogenic bacteria in their colonies to me the reverse of surprising.

It is needful before passing to the second head to anticipate one or two points to which Mr. Watson Cheyne will especially refer. After very many cultivations conducted in series by that gentleman, a small quantity of sterilized milk was inoculated from the last tube. It behaved characteristically, as Mr. Cheyne will describe, the flask emitting upon the drawing of the plug the unmistakable odour so distinctive of the disease in the hive. Some of this milk I diffused through water, and sprayed from an atomizer over a healthy comb of larve, part of which was protected by a cardboard sheet into which four lozenge shapes had been cut. The larvee protected matured in health; those exposed to the spray in many cases were removed by the bees, while the rest died, their bodies filled with Bacillus alvei. This last experiment seems to complete the chain of evidence in favour of ‘foul brood” not being accidentally associated with this bacillus, but actually its result.

2ndly. The means of the propagation of the disease. Popular apiculture has greatly suffered because its supposed leaders have only very rarely been equal to any scientific analysis, and so crude guesses have frequently been as unhesitatingly accepted as though they had been theories supported by an exhaustive examination of facts. It isso here; the larvee alone were supposed to suffer from the disease under discussion, and so it was confidently asserted that it was propagated by bees from healthy colonies getting into con- tact with these larvee by taking advantage of the weakened dispirited condition of infected stocks by invading them and stealing from them their honey, which honey was said to abound with micro- cocci, but I have searched most carefully in honey in contiguity with cells holding dead larve, have examined samples from stocks dying out with rottenness, inspected extracted honey* from terribly diseased colonies, and yet in no instance have | found a living bacillus, and never have been able to be sure of discovering one in the spore condition, although it must be admitted that the problem has its microscopic difficulties, because the stains used to make the bacilli apparent attach themselves very strongly to all pollen- grains and parts thereof, and somewhat interfere with examination.

* Honey thrown out from the comb by a centrifugal machine called an extractor.

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All attempts at propagating bacilli in honey I have found utterly futile. The presence of bacilli in honey as an accidental con- tamination would, it may be remarked, in no way render it in- jurious, for many pathogenic bacteria may be swallowed without risk if there be no internal rupture of the mucous membrane, and placing this bacillus in a skin wound has in my own case produced no disagreeable results.

My belief is that the grubs are most usually infected by the antennz of the nurses. These travelling in the darkness of the hive become aware of the condition and needs of the occupants of the brood-cells by constantly inserting their antenne, which must continually where disease reigns be brought into contact with bacilli, and also into contact with those sticky masses into which the larva change about two days after death. The removal then of spores is highly probable, and these transferred to the next grub fed will there start the disease. These sticky masses will be found too to extend to the very front of the cells, and as the bees perambulate their combs the pulvillus will be in danger of re- moving spores and depositing them upon other cell edges to infect other grubs at the critical time of cocoon spinning. It is also extremely likely that the tramp of the bees frequently detaches numbers of spores, which fly about in the air and settle here and there, often where they take effect, many of them being carried into healthy stocks with the indraught set up by the fanners.*

A large number of observations has shown that the disease in the larva at least is not one of the digestive tube, but of the blood, and through it of every viscus. If honey were the means of com- municating it, certainly traces of it should be found in the alimentary sac; but here I find only very occasionally bacilli. In the adult bee, however, although the disease fills the blood, it is still very prominent indeed in the chyle stomach. Microscopists will have no difficulty in accepting the idea of these organisms being carried about in air currents when it is remembered that a single cubic inch of material would form a quadruple line of these bacilli from London to New York. Ordinary dust motes are to such organisms as hens’ eggs to sand grains. Nor is their multitude less remarkable than their minuteness. I have examined many larvee which must at least have contained 1,000,000,000; so that the means by which they are disseminated must be altogether too varied. In the royal jelly—so called—of a queen pupa dead of bacillus I could discover no bacilli, nor have I succeeded better with the food provided to the workers, notwithstanding that I examined several hundreds of the cells containing feeding larvee where disease was rife; so that, although I would not dogmatize, my strong opinion is that commonly neither honey nor pollen carry the disease, but that the feet and

* See supra, p. 583, line 18 et seq.

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antennze of the bees usually do. I also think it probable that occasionally at least, nurse bees infected bring the disease-germs to the mouth in feeding the larve, and then, turning foragers, leave a germ or germs on the nectary of a flower, which, visited by another bee, becomes the means of infection to it. The malady is thus carried into other, and perhaps somewhat distant, apiaries. Balancing all the probabilities, it would appear that most gene- rally the adult bee takes the disease, and then carries it directly or indirectly to the brood. In a somewhat different malady, Empusa musci of the housefly, the germs are known to take effect by settling on the spiracles or between the abdominal rings, and the spiracle of the bee in all its stages may be the especially vulnerable oint. 4 3rdly. The method of the cure of Bacillus alvei. Upon this question the scientific is perhaps less than the practical interest, and so I shall content myself with a bare outline. Salicylic acid has been used in attempting to combat this disease with fluctuating and partial success, but phenol I have found perfectly specific. The difficulty of administration I overcame as follows: phenol was mingled with ordinary sugar syrup of a density most suitable for feeding purposes in the proportion of 1 to 500 by weight of the syrup, and this was then poured into the comb in which brood was being raised. The nurse bees immediately accepted the medicated food, and as a result the malady in the very worst cases disappeared, the exceptions being those in which the queen herself was badly diseased. ‘This would rather seem to indicate that the drug acts as a prophylactic, but upon this most vital point time has not at present enabled me to settle the ground for an opinion. The problem is beset by difficulties, but during the advancing summer experiments will be made in the hope of gaining evidence respecting it. Even apart from the solution of this question, this investigation promises to have a very important bearing upon the future of apiculture by exposing the errors of the past and supplying a satis- factory method of treating a disease which had promised to so increase as to thoroughly imperil the very existence of apiculture as an industry.

Parr Il.— History under Cultivation. (By Mr. Curyne.)

On August 11th, 1884, Mr. Cheshire brought to me a piece of comb containing larve affected with foul brood, with which I per- formed the following experiments:—Selecting cells which were closed, but which Mr. Cheshire thought contained diseased larvee, I brushed them over with a watery solution of bichloride of mercury (1 : 1000) to destroy the organisms on the outside. With several forceps that had been heated and allowed to cool, the covering of

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the cell was picked off so as to display the diseased larvee. These larvee were dead, of a yellowish colour, and almost liquid; and on examination afterwards their juices were found to contain numerous moving bacilli. By means of a heated platinum wire, tubes of meat infusion rendered solid by gelatin (10 per cent.), or by Japanese isinglass, were inoculated from several of these larvee and kept at a suitable temperature. Development of bacilli, microscopically similar to those seen in the juices of the larvee, occurred: the cha- racteristics of this development will be presently described. Further, in the tubes, kept at the body temperature, there was not only a development of bacilli, but also of spores.

These bacilli, as seen in the larval juices, measure about 1/7000 in. in length, and 1/20,500 in. in breadth. ‘They are rounded or slightly tapering at their ends, and often have a clear space near one end. In the juices of the larva during life they apparently do not produce spores, although after death spores abound.

In the cultivation in the peptonized meat infusion, rendered solid by agar-agar, the bacilli vary considerably in size, their average length being 1/7260 in., some being as small as 1/10,000 in. and others as large as 1/5000 in. When they have attained the latter size, division of the rod seems to begin. They are always some- what pointed at their ends. Their average breadth is 1/30,000 in., varying from 1/35,000 to 1/25,000.

The spores are largish oval bodies, averaging in length 1/12,000 in. (varying from 1/13,100 to 1/10,200 in.), and in breadth 1/23,700 in. (varying from 1/24,000 to 1/25,000 in.).

In the agar-agar material the spores are generally arranged side by side in long rows, and in old cultivations only a few bacilli can be seen, some forming spores, some without any indication of spores (figs. 10 and 11). That these small bacilli can produce such large spores seems at the first glance at a microscopical specimen almost inconceivable, but I have been able to trace on the one hand the development of the spores in the rods, and on the other the sprouting of the spores into adult bacilli. This can be done in the following very simple manner :—

Take a number of glass slides, each having a moderate-sized cell hollowed out in its middle; clean it, and pass through a Bunsen flame several times to destroy any bacteria on its surface. With a brush apply a very little vaseline around the depression, and then place the slide under a glass shade to keep it from the dust. Clean a number of cover-glasses, purify them in the flame, and place them on a pure glass plate beneath another shade. With a fine pure pipette put a small drop of sterilized cultivating fluid (meat infusion with peptone) on the centre of each of these cover- glasses; then with a fine platinum wire inoculate each of the drops with the spores, or with non-spore-bearing bacilli; rapidly invert

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them over the cell, press down the cover-glass so as to diffuse the vaseline around its edge, and place the slides in an incubator kept at the temperature of the body. These slides are removed at different intervals of time, and as soon as each is taken out the cover-glass is turned over and the drop of fluid rapidly dried. The specimen can then be stained, mounted in Canada balsam, and studied at leisure. This method seems to me to be much more satisfactory than the observation of the organisms swimming about in the drop of fluid, while the specimens can be kept permanently and compared with one another.

In order to study the growth of the spores I used a cultivation on the agar-agar cultivating material which had been kept at the temperature of the body for fourteen days, and which consisted almost entirely of spores, though a few bacilli were present. As the result of several experiments, I have got a series of preparations which have been taken at various times (15 min., 30 min., 40 min., 1 hour, 13 hour, 1 hour 50 min., 2 hours, 2 hours 20 min., 2 hours 50 min., 2 hours 55 min., 3 hours 20 min., 4 hours 20 min., 5 hours, 5 hours 385 min., 5 hours 40 min., and 7 hours 50 min.), and the course of events is shown in plate X. The bacilli stain with various anilin dyes—best, I think, with methyl-violet; but the spores resemble the spores of other bacteria in not taking on the stain. The cover-glasses cn which the organisms are dried are passed three times through the gas flame and floated on. the sur- face of a fairly strong watery solution of methyl-violet for one to two hours. ‘They are then washed in water, and afterwards laid in weak acetic acid (1 per cent.) till no more stain comes out. ‘They are again washed in water, allowed to dry at the ordinary tem- perature, and mounted in Canada balsam. A spore-bearing culti- vation shows the bacilli stained violet, and the spores unstained, with the exception of their outline, which is of a faint violet colour. In most cases no trace of the rod in which the spore was formed can be seen (see fig. 7). The first change which is observed on cultivation is that in many cases the outline of the rod in which the spore was formed becomes faintly visible (see fig. 7). This can be seen in fifteen minutes, and is, I think, simply due to swelling by the fluid, as it is also evident to some extent in the case of spores soaked in water for the same length of time. In from half an hour to an hour it is evident that the bacilli which were present in the original material are beginning to multiply, and a considerable number of rods are now seen containing spores. It is evident that these spores are newly formed, as extremel few bacilli containing spores were seen in the original natant whereas in the preparations taken from in half an hour to an hour a considerable number are present. That some of the rods, instead of growing by fission, at once proceed to form spores

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is probably to be explained in this way. When the cultivation was removed from the incubator, some bacilli were growing by fission, some were forming spores, and some had passed into a state ready to form spores. The first go on growing by fission, the last complete their spore-formation, which was arrested by removal from the warm temperature. ‘That actively growing rods would not have formed spores so early is evidenced by the facts observed in the second series of observations on the formation of spores. The next thing that is observed is that several of the spores take on the stain, and are as intensely violet as the adult bacilli (see fig. 7). The number of the spores which take on the stain in this way goes on increasing as time passes, till in about four hours almost all the spores stain violet. In three hours the first indica- cation of sprouting of these spores becomes evident. The stained part of the spore loses its oval shape, becomes elongated, and is soon seen to burst through the spore-capsule at one part (see fig. 7). It then presents the appearance of a short rod, with a pale envelope embracing one end. ‘This rod gradually leaves the spore-capsule and then goes on multiplying as a full-grown bacillus. In specimens taken from four to five hours all stages of growth can be seen, and the remains of the ruptured spore-capsules are evident (see fig. 7).

The bacilli appear to grow mainly by fission, but I have seen appearances which seem to me only explicable on the supposition that they also grow by sending out buds from one end (see fiz. 11). A bacillus may be seen with a small somewhai conical stained point attached to one end, though separated by a marked division. This is certainly not the common mode of growth by fission, for there the rod seems to divide into two pretty equal halves, while here we but have a minute piece attached to one end.

The mode of formation of spores may be traced in a similar manner to that described above in the case of the sprouting of the spores. It is, however, as a rule necessary to leave the organisms to grow for a much longer time than in the former instance. I have not found development of spores as a rule before twenty-three hours, but this depends very much apparently on the amount of fluid that was present and the number of bacilli introduced at the time of inoculation. The first thing noticeable is that the rod begins to swell and becomes spindle-shaped (see fig. 8). This swell- ing, which generally affects the middle of the rod, but may in some cases be most marked toward one end, increases in size, and the centre of the swelling gradually ceases to take on the stain (fig. 8). The capsule of the spore apparently is also formed within the rod, and is not merely the outer part of the rod. In three or four hours the rod is seen to have almost or completely disappeared, leaving the spore lying free or within the faint outline of the original bacillus

Bacillus alvei. By Messrs. F. Cheshire & Watson Cheyne. 595

(figs. 7 and 8). It seems to me that the view that spore-formation occurs when the food is getting exhausted is correct, for the time at which this appearance is found depends greatly on the size of the drop placed on the cover-glasses, and I have found in one experiment that in one specimen after twenty-three hours most of the rods were forming spores, while in another specimen where the drop was much larger there was no trace of spore-formation after twenty- eight hours. I have here described the results of my earlier and rougher attempts to study the formation of spores. I have, how- ever, now improved the method in the followmg way. As I have just now shown, the period at which spores are first seen seems to depend mainly on the amount of fluid used and the number of of bacilli introduced, and as in the above method both these factors vary in each case, one cannot get a regular series of preparations showing the different stages at different times. In studying the sprouting of spores the amount of fiuid and the number of spores does not matter, for if sufficient nutriment is present and a proper temperature maintained the spores must sprout, and probably they always take about the same length of time. The difficulty of obtaining a series of specimens illustrating spore-formation is easily obviated in the following manner. Take a pure flask containing a small quantity of sterilized infusion, and inoculate it from a cultivation containing only bacilli. Place it in the incubator for two or three hours, so that the bacilli may increase somewhat in number and diffuse themselves through the liquid. Thus the cultivating mate- rial contains bacilli pretty equally diffused through it, and if after shaking the flask drops of equal size are taken, each will probably contain about the same number of bacilli. ‘The minutest quantity of fluid can easily be obtained by means of a syringe having a fine screw on its piston and a large nut revolving on this screw. The circumference of the nut being equally divided into a number of small segments, the same quantity of fluid can always be expelled from the syringe. By proceeding in this way equal sized drops containing an equal number of bacilli can be used and a regular series of specimens obtained. I have found that using 2/5 of a minim containing one bacillus and keeping the specimen at 36° C., en earliest appearance of spore-formation was evident in forty-one ours.

Leaving these matters, which are of great interest not only in regard to the Bacillus alvei, but to all spore-bearing bacteria, and which I have therefore dwelt on at reife we must pass on to the further consideration of this particular organism. The first point to be determined in investigating its relation to foul brood was whether this was a new bacillus, unknown except in connection with this disease of bees, or whether it was a more or less well- known form. ‘To ascertain this point with regard to muicro-

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organisms the Microscope is of little use; recourse must be had to the study of their life-history, more especially of their peculiarities of growth on different soils. Of all the materials employed as cultivating media, Koch’s gelatinized meat infusion is the most useful for purposes of diagnosis. This is composed of an infusion of meat containing 1 to 3 per cent. of pepton, 10 per cent. gelatin made neutral by carbonate of soda, and thoroughly sterilized. This material was first introduced with the view of having a highly nutritive solid and at the same time transparent medium, on which to carry on pure cultivations, but it was soon found that owing to the remarkably diverse ways in which different micro-organisms grew in it, it could be used as a means of diagnosis of the kind of organism, a means more certain than any other which we at present possess. For purposes of diagnosis as well as with the view of carrying on pure cultivations this material is used in three ways. While the material is still fluid a small portion is poured into a number of pure tubes plugged with cotton wool, sterilized, and allowed to solidify. A fine platinum wire, heated in a flame and allowed to cool, is dipped into the material containing the bacterium in question, and then, after the removal of the cotton- wool plug, is rapidly plunged down through the gelatin to the bottom of the tube and then withdrawn. The plug is reinserted and the tube kept at a temperature suitable for the development of most forms of bacteria, but not high enough to melt the gelatin. If growth takes place at this temperature it occurs either on the surface around the point of entrance of the needle or along the needle track, or in both places, and the appearance of the growth varies remarkably, according to the different species of micro- organisms studied. ‘The second way is to liquefy and pour out a little of the gelatinized material on microscopic slides or on larger plates of glass which have been sterilized by heat. These plates are placed in giass vessels containing moist blotting-paper to prevent drying of the gelatin and to protect them from the dust. After the gelatin has solidified the purified platinum needle charged with the bacteria is drawn rapidly over the surface of the gelatin. Bacteria are sown along the track, grow there, and the whole can be placed under a Microscope and the characteristics of the growth studied with a low power. In the third mode a tube of the gelatin mixture is inoculated with a very minute quantity of the bacteria. The tube is then placed in water at the body temperature to melt the gelatin. When the material has melted it is thoroughly shaken up to diffuse the bacteria through it, and while still liquid is poured out on sterilized glass plates kept in a moist chamber, as in the former case. Solidification very soon occurs, and the bacteria being caught at various parts of the gelatin grow there in the form of groups or colonies, which can be observed under a low power of

Bacillus alvei. By Messrs. F. Cheshire & Watson Cheyne. 597

the Microscope. I shall now describe the characteristics of the Baciilus alvet when cultivated in these three modes.

a. Test-tube cultivations.—If an infected needle be plunged into a tube of gelatinized meat infusion, in the manner described above, growth occurs both on the surface and along the needle-track. On the surface the bacilli shoot out in all directions from the point of entrance of the needle, forming a delicate ramifying growth on the top of the gelatin; the characteristics of this growth will be presently described under b. Along the track whitish irregular- shaped masses appear, which slowly increase in size and run together. In a few days processes are seen to shoot out from these masses, which may extend through the gelatin for long distances from the track, being thickened at various parts and clubbed at the ends. These processes do not appear to join one another at their ends (see figs. 5and 6), A very beautiful and characteristic appearance is got where very few bacilli are introduced with the needle and where therefore at various parts of the track, more especially at the lower part, individual bacilli or groups of bacilli are planted at a consider- able distance from each other. In a few days minute round whitish specks become visible to the naked eye. These increase in size till in about ten days shoots begin to appear. These radiate from the central mass in all directions and become nodular at various parts as described above. When such a cultivation is old the white branches disappear, and only little whitish collections of bacilli are seen at various parts. On examining such a tube with a pocket lens, however, numerous watery-looking tracks are seen running through the gelatin from the central mass to the whitish collec- tions. The gelatin at the upper part of the track generally evaporates, to some extent giving rise to the air-bubble appearance so characteristic of the cholera bacillus (see fig. 6). ‘Lhese are the appearances seen where the material contains gelatin in the proportion of 10 per cent. Where less gelatin is present the naked eye appearances, while possessing the same characteristics, are somewhat different. The shoots are much more numerous and appear much more rapidly, giving rise to a haziness around the needle track which with the pocket lens is seen to consist of numerous delicate branches clubbed at the ends ax in the former case. I think the amount of peptone present also makes a difference in the appearance, though of this point I am not yet absolutely certain. The most characteristic growth is, however, obtained when the material contains 3 per cent. peptone as well as 10 per cent, gelatin, the shoots being then Jess numerous and much coarser. And I can easily understand that this would be the case, for the bacilli would have a large supply of nutriment in their immediate vicinity without the necessity of having, so to speak, to spread out through the gelatin in search of food, as may be the

Ser. 2.—Vou, V. 2k

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case where no peptone, or only a small amount, is present. This appearance is quite characteristic of this bacillus, and is not seen in the cultivation of any other organism that I know of. The bacilli of anthrax and of mouse septicemia also spread out from the needle track, but the appearance of their cultivation is quite different. In anthrax delicate threads, not clubbed, shoot out from the track, soon anastomosing with other threads and forming a delicate network throughout the gelatin. In mouse septicaemia the appearance is that of a delicate cloudiness spreading through the gelatin. ‘These foul brood bacilli, growing in this material, render it liquid after a time, the liquefaction beginning at the surface and only spreading slowly downwards, but ultimately the whole tube becomes liquid. After two or three weeks’ growth the appearance presented by the tube is that of a layer of liquid at the upper part, and the growth along the needle track with the other appearances described at the lower part. The liquid portion is clear except at the bottom of the liquid, where there 1s a loose white flocculent deposit of bacilli, and on the surface there may be a very thin scum. The liquid becomes yellowish in colour after a time, and gives off an odour of stale, but not ammoniacal urine, or what may be better described as a shrimpy smell. This yellowish colour and the peculiar odour have been found by Mr. Cheshire to be distinctive of the diseased larvee.

b. If gelatin be poured out on a plate, allowed to solidify, and then stroked with an infected needle, we learn the explanation of the appearances seen in the test-tube cultivations. The bacilli at first grow along the needle track, but very soon they are seen to be collecting at parts forming pointed processes. From the processes the bacilli grow out into the gelatin, often a single series of rods, in Indian file, or two or three rods side by side. These processes are not quite straight, but tend to curve, and at a little distance from the track they grow round so as to form a circle (see figs. 13 and 14c). From this circle, which may be formed of single bacilli, the process continues forming a fresh circle further on. The bacilli in the circle increase in number till ultimately it becomes completely filled up, and we have a nodule consisting of bacilli in the course of the shoot. These shoots may also join one another, forming a curved anastomosis, and the gelatin in the immediate vicinity of the bacilli becoming liquid, a series of channels are formed in the gelatin containing fluid in which the bacilli swim backwards and forwards. later on, parts of these channels become apparently deserted by the bacilli, so that the circles look to the naked eye as if they were detached from the main track, but with a low power of the Microscope the empty channels can be traced. (See figs. 13 and 14.)

It is impossible to give a proper idea of the appearances of the

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growth. The forms assumed are the most beautiful shapes I have ever seen, but they are very numerous, always however retaining the tendency to form curves and circles; thus we have the explanation of the appearances previously described in the test-tube cultivations.

c. The appearances of the colonies on plates on which the mixture of bacilli and gelatinized infusion has been poured out is also very characteristic. The earliest appearance of colonies is a small oval or round group of bacilli. This group is not homogeneous in appearance under a low power of the Microscope, but lines indicating the bacilli are seen in it. It very soon becomes pear-shaped, and from the sharp end of the pear processes begin to pass out into the gelatin, as before described. (See fig. 12.)

These bacilli do not grow below 16° C. The best growth in gelatin is obtained at a temperature of about 20°C. They grow most rapidly in cultivating materials kept at the body temperature. Very few spores are formed at the lower temperatures, but they appear rapidly and in large numbers at the body temperature. I have several times observed bacilli containing spores swimming about freely. The reaction of the medium is not of any very great importance, but a neutral medium is apparently the best. The bacilli swim freely in fluids with a slow oscillating movement.

They grow readily at the body temperature in meat infusion with peptone and rendered solid by agar-agar, but the appearance of their growth is not nearly so characteristic as in gelatin. This, indeed, is the case with most bacteria, so that agar-agar preparations, though very useful for carrying on pure cultivations at the tem- perature of the body, are of little value for diagnostic purposes. They grow most rapidly on the surface of the agar-agar, forming a whitish layer, but the shoots described above in the case of gelatin do not occur, or only very imperfectly, in agar-agar. Here the bacilli arrange themselves apparently side by side, and, producing spores in this position, we have as a result, after a few days’ cultivation, long rows of spores lying side by side with here and there an adult bacillus. (See figs. 10 and 11.)

On potatoes they grow slowly, forming a dryish yellow layer on the surface. They grow very slowly indeed at the lower tem- perature. In order to get good growth it is necessary to keep the potato at the body temperature.

In milk they grow well at the body temperature, and in a few days cause coagulation of the milk, which also assumes a yellowish palbtic and gives off the odour previously described. ‘The coagulum is not firm, like that caused by the Bacteriwm lactis, but is like a tremulous jelly, and may remain for a considerable time without the separation of any fluid, but ultimately it becomes liquid, and after some months assumes the appearance of a dirty, brownish- yellow, glairy fluid. It is very slightly, if indeed at oi es

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They grow extremely slowly in coagulated blood serum, though kept at the body temperature, and there form very long filaments (see fig. 9) with comparatively few spores.

In meat infusion kept at the temperature of the body they grow readily, causing muddiness, and after a few days a slight but not tenacious scum. ‘The same peculiar odour is also developed here, more especially if the infusion contains a considerable amount of peptone. I do not think that there is any change in the reaction of the fluid; I generally make the infusions faintly alkaline, and after the growth of this organism in it it is faintly alkaline.

These characteristics show that this is a new bacillus, and one which, so far as my knowledge and experience goes, is only found in foul brood. ‘The constant preseuce in large numbers of a cha- racteristic organism in a disease and its absence elsewhere must, according to our accumulating experience, afford a strong pre- sumption that the organism is the cause of the disease. In the case of foul brood this matter has been completely proved by the following experiments, the details of which will be found in Mr. Cheshire’s part of this paper. With a cultivation in milk he sprayed a comb containing a healthy brood, allowing the spray to act only on a particular part of the comb. ‘This part and no other became affected with foul brood. He has also succeeded in infecting adult bees by feeding them with material containing these cultivated bacilli.

I have also had the opportunity of watching the effect of feeding flies with material containing spores and bacilli I was one day testing some milk in which these bacilli were growing; a large bluebottle fly settled on it and commenced to eat. I at once put a large glass funnel over the insect, leaving plenty of air. When I came to the laboratory twenty-two hours later the fly was in the sitting posture on the table and was dead. Its juices were full of these bacilli, as shown by microscopical examination and by cultivation.

_ Other animals which I have tested are more or less refractory to this bacillus. I have kept cockroaches for days in a box in which was milk containing these bacilli mixed up with sugar. I have also kept them in a box containing a piece of paper which had been thoroughly smeared with the spores. None of them died, but I cannot be certain that in either case they ate any of the material, for I never saw them even near it.

I inoculated two mice and one rabbit with a spore-bearing cultivation without effect.

I injected half a syringeful of a spore-bearing cultivation into the dorsal subcutaneous tissue of each of two mice. One of these died in twenty-three hours, the other seemed unaffected, but in the second case I doubt whether the full quantity was introduced. In the case of the mouse which died the seat of injection and the neigh-

Bacillus alvet. By Messrs. F. Cheshire & Watson Cheyne. 601

bouring cellular tissue was found to be very cedematous, but no macroscopic changes were apparent in the internal organs. Numerous bacilli were found in the cedematous fluid, as also a number of spores which had not yet sprouted, and there were also a few bacilli in the blood taken from the heart. This was proved, of course, by cultivation as well as by microscopical examination. On examining sections of the various organs no morbid changes were found, and only very few bacilli were seen in the blood- vessels.

At the same time that I injected the mice I injected a syringeful of the same cultivation subcutaneously into a guinea-pig. This animal died six days later with extensive necrosis of the muscular tissue and skin, and cheesy looking patches distributed through it. There was no true pus. On making sections of the necrosed tissue, numerous bacilli, apparently Bacillus alvei, were seen, but there were other bacteria and also micrococci, as of course would be the case on account of the death of the skin. No micro-organisms were seen in the internal organs. It thus remains questionable whether the necrosis was due to the Bacillus alvei or not, more especially as I have since injected three guinea-pigs subcutaneously with spore-bearing cultivations, but without effect. I must reserve the action of these bacilli on the higher animals for further investiga- tion, as well as several other points of interest in regard to this organism to which I have not here alluded.

I venture to think that when all the evidence brought forward by Mr. Cheshire and myself is carefully weighed no doubt can be entertained that this bacillus is new to science, and is the cause of foul brood. Many questions of course still remain open, requiring further investigation into the life-history of the disease.

602 Transactions of the Society.

XII —Eaperiments on Feeding some Insects with the Curved or “Comma” Bacillus, and also with another Bacillus (B. subtilis ?).

By R. L. Mappox, M.D., Hon. F.R.MS.

(Read 13th May, 1885.)

Tue record of a few experiments on feeding insects with the “comma” bacillus, and also with a straight bacillus (B. subtzlis ?) may be of some interest, as I am not aware that a similar attempt has been previously made and published. Although these expert- ments are too few to speak positively as to results, they are brought before the Fellows of the Society in the hope that others may be induced to extend them. They are of interest as bearing on the question of a possible mode of contagion, and are deserving of a more methodical inquiry, which as the season advances, I may perhaps be able to follow out.

On the morning of the 23rd of April a bee and two blowflies were captured and put under a clean tumbler resting in a saucer, a small square of clean glass being also placed in the saucer. Hach was then fed off a bit of lump sugar well saturated with a liquefied impure gelatin culture of the “comma ” bacillus abound- ing in living specimens of this organism, but contaminated with micrococci. One of the flies appeared to have been somewhat injured in the capture.

A few minutes afterwards a large wasp and another blowfly were captured, and placed together under the same conditions in another tumbler, and fed in the same way. Hach insect was seen to feed freely off the saturated sugar. Provision was duly made for ventilation by supporting the tumblers on strips of card placed in the saucers. On the 24th, 9 a.m., the bee seemed very dull, and one of the flies, the injured one, scarcely able to stand. The bee was now fed with a drop of fresh milk from the breakfast table, of which it partook freely, and about three minutes after it had a violent dejection on the square piece of glass, and then appeared very lively, but for more than twenty minutes it seemed unable to clean itself of the excreta or make itself presentable. Part of the dejection was at once placed on some clean thin covers and allowed to dry without heat; also examined wet; some of the curved bacilli were in motion. The wasp was also fed with the milk, and the blowflies partook of the same, but without any similar result. The small lump of sugar in each saucer was again moistened with the culture fluid. Later in the forenoon another hive bee was caught and put under the tumbler with the first one. All were now seen to again feed off the sugar, and the wasp in the interim had had a

Feeding Insects with Bacilli. By Dr. R. L. Maddox. 603

copious dejection on the side of the tumbler, consisting of solid and fluid matter. The tumbler was removed and a fresh one sub- stituted. Part of the excreta was taken up by a flattened clean needle and spread on some clean cover-glasses and allowed to dry ; also examined wet; the bacilli were not in motion ; one of each of the covers was then stained with rose-anilin acetate in glycerin, the others with a watery solution of methyl-violet. Among the débris of the excreta of the wasp, which contained some fatty substance, were many of the “comma” bacilli, some micrococci, and some short straight bacilli. In the dejection from the bee, the “comma ” bacilli were very abundant, as likewise the micrococci, mingled with some pollen-grains. On the 25th they were all again fed with the liquefied culture, but on the 26th the sugar was moistened with distilled water only. On the 27th they were all fed as on the 25th. On the 28th the injured blowfly was found dead ; it was not examined. The others were fed with the curved bacilli culture. Another bee was caught and put into the tumbler with the two bees—there was an instant recognition and welcome by . the second bee—they were each seen to partake of the moistened sugar.

On the same day a very large humble bee was captured, placed in captivity under similar conditions, and fed in the same way with the liquefied gelatin culture, of which it partook freely.

On the 29th all were again fed in the same way, save the bee which had been the first caught. It was found lying on its back and soon died. It was easily recognised as the first one, by being smaller than the other two. It was at once examined. A section was made at each side of the abdomen and the abdominal plates lifted, the viscera were removed to a clean slide with some distilled water freshly boiled, then placed on a cover with some rose- anilin in glycerin and spread out. Some of the water the viscera had been placed in was put on thin covers, allowed to dry, then stained and examined, whilst another portion was examined wet and without staining, when several curved bacilli were seen in each field, many of them in active motion and among them numerous micrococci. The stained covers showed also the ‘“‘ comma ”’ bacilli and micrococci. ‘This examination took some time, hence the viscera were much oyverstained; no soaking unfortunately detached the stain sufficiently for the slide to be of use for further investigation.

The 30th the rest were fed as before, save the blowfly in company with the wasp, which had succumbed ; the legs and wings had been bitten off and part of the thorax destroyed by the wasp. Part of the contents of the abdominal cavity, the perivisceral fluid, was spread out on a thin cover and showed a few curved bacilli and short rods, also some micrococci, but none abundant; some of the curved bacilli had a very slight motion.

604 Transactions of the Society.

May 1st.—A culture medium made with gelatin, Carragheen moss, and Liebig’s extract of meat, and rendered rather too alkaline, which had not been used in any way from the time of making, nearly a month before, was found broken down, very much liquefied, and contaminated with a straight bacillus, which had formed cloud- like dense folds, exceedingly tender, and near to the surface. The two bees and blowfly, also the humble bee and wasp, were each fed with some of this culture on sugar. They all fed eagerly of the same. A medium-sized blackbeetle which had been caught on the 27th and treated to the culture of the “comma” bacillus on bread- crumb, was likewise fed with the same straight bacillus. The excreta of the beetle abounded in bacteria and bacilli, and amongst them the comma bacillus in motion.

This food was repeated on the next day with all the insects, and on the 3rd they were found to be, so far as could be judged, unaffected. The two bees, humble-bee, and blowfly were allowed their liberty in the garden; the bees immediately went to some flowers, but the humble bee circled round until as high as the house, when it immediately flew off in one direction.

On the 4th and 5th the wasp and beetle were fed with the straight bacillus, and on the 6th another blowfly was put with the wasp. All were again fed with the same culture up to the 9th, when, about 9 a.m., the fly was found on its back, and died very soon alter; the abdomen appeared tense and swollen. Within a few minutes a cut was made along one side of the abdomen, when the perivisceral fluid gushed out from this dropsical fly. Several covers were smeared with this clear but very sticky fluid, which would not dry well, but remained tacky and bright like albumen.

Upon staining, a few short straight rods were found on all the covers, also some diplococci. ‘The fluid was miscible with water, remaining clear. Whether this effusion into the perivisceral cavity was due to the food, or to some by-play on the part of the wasp, I cannot say, but I suspect the latter as the cause of the intense effusion. Unfortunately engagements prevented the examination of the viscera. The wasp was dull and sleepy, and would not feed freely of the culture and sugar. The culture medium had now a rather more unpleasant smell, and when examined was found, though abounding in resting and motile rods, to be largely contaminated with Bacterium termo, the reaction being still markedly alkaline.

10¢h.—The wasp had much recovered, and was again fed in the same way.

11th.—While changing the saucers and squares of glass the wasp had a very fluid dejection, containing only a small lump of solid matter. The mixed dejection was at once placed on some thin covers, dried without heat, and when examined with the Microscope found to be swarming with short rods and the débris

Feeding Insects with Bacili. By Dr. R. L. Maddox. 605

of the bacilli. There were also a few diplococci and Bacterium termo. ‘The wasp seemed very sleepy the greater part of the day, and at one time | thought it was dead.

12th—It was as lively as before. The sugar was now only moistened with distilled water. The beetle remained dull during the daytime since its captivity, and I could never see it actually partaking of the gelatin culture, though I could see the bread had been on many occasions partially eaten, and the curved bacilli had been found in the excreta.

The question will naturally arise as to the value of these experiments. I think we may conclude that the “comma” bacillus is not pathogenic to the insects upon which the experiments were instituted. The two bees by being fed with a culture medium rich in this organism, one for seven days, had ample time for the effect of the organism, if pathogenic, to have been established, as also the wasp and the humble bee. In reference to the blowflies that died, I think they must be withdrawn from the list, and the one that was loosed from captivity had also sufficient time for any ill effects to be noted. ‘The wasp has been in captivity twenty-one days, and has withstood the variety of feeding with the comma bacillus and the straight bacillus, as also has the blackbeetle; but it is possible these organisms may have had some pernicious effect, as a diet contrary to the natural one, and may have caused in the three observed instances the increased dejections. They moreover show that the “curved” bacillus can be passed through their in- testines and ejected as a living organism, so that were this organism truly pathogenic to man and animals, the chances of contagion might be enhanced.

Since commencing these experiments I see recorded in the ‘British Medical Journal’ for the 9th inst. that Mr. Watson Cheyne, who had already, I believe, proved the Bacillus alvei of the bee to be pathogenic to the blowfly, has also met with a curved bacillus in a diseased bee.

These experiments I regard as simply preliminary; though not coupled with control experiments, they appear to me worth recording.

Some experiments were also commenced by growing seeds on a damp clean medium, as embroidery canvas and coarse flannel. When the radicles had passed through the meshes, the whole was placed on some diluted “comma” bacillus culture for forty-eight hours, and afterwards transferred to distilled water for twenty-four hours, when the whole was again transferred to a weak watery solution of methyl-violet for forty-eight hours, and then again placed on distilled water for a day or more before examining them by the Microscope. In the case of the fine side radicles of the common Sinapis or mustard-seed, I thought I could in several

606 Transactions of the Society.

instances, when mounted in water on a slide, detect the “ comma ” bacillus amongst the plasm of the cells, but I could not speak positively on this rather difficult pomt. The experiments require repetition. Still, if it be a fact that the rootlets can take up these organisms, it may point to another source for the conveyance of such into the intestines of man and animals, especially of birds and rodents.

It may be an error, but I believe these experiments with these particular bacilli to be the first recorded. In reference to the straight bacillus, I cannot positively say it is Bacillus subtilis, but I expect it is. My friend Mr. Dowdeswell, who is more acquainted with these organisms than I am, has had some for examination, and I am now able to add his opinion, which is that they closely re- semble Bacillus subtilis, if not it. Experiments in these directions open a large field of inquiry, and I am not aware they are trammelled by any Act of Parliament.

P.S. 19ti.—The abdominal sac of the bee that had been overstained and left covered on the slide in weak acetate of potash, was laid open in a little freshly boiled distilled water on the slide. A considerable number of bacteria were seen, some as narrow rods cf various lengths, another kind with slight motion, and some curved bacilli. A very few amongst these had slight though perceptible motion. ‘There were also straight rod-spores in full development.

The dejections of the wasp after feeding on lump-sugar moistened with distilled water for five days, yielded scarcely a rod and the micrococci were much less numerous. The dejections had a very small portion of solid matter.

21st—A long red-bodied fly I had put with the wasp was soon killed; the head, legs, and wings were nipped off and the contents of the thorax speedily devoured.

22nd.—Fed with the sugar and water, and a blow-fly (Musca vomitoria) put with it in the same tumbler.

237rd.—Both were seen to feed freely off a lump of sugar moistened with old dried blood of mouse, dead of anthrax, mixed with distilled water. In the mixture only a few rods were noticed when examined microscopically.

24th.—Fed in the same way, and both watched feeding.

25th.—The two insects were separated, and just as the vessels, &c., had been changed, and before feeding them with the same blood-mixture, the wasp had a clear fluid dejection, which was im- mediately examined. Only six rods were counted in many fields. Within a quarter of an hour after feeding the wasp had three other dejections on the fresh square of glass, one with a tiny lump of . solid matter. Within ten minutes another clear fluid dejection was passed. This had some peculiar bodies which I regarded as intestinal parasites, ranging in size from the sixth to the half

Feeding Insects with Bacilli. By Dr. R. L. Maddox. 607

diameter of the human blood-corpuscle. Seen on one surface they appeared circular and bright, with a central dot; seen on the reverse side, the largest had a pale centre, then a darkish ring, then a pale ring surrounded by a dark outline. The window-frame could be, with a little care, focused on this surface, but not on the opposite side. Seen in side view they were concavo-convex, the protoplasm forming a dark body like a comma lying closely against the inner edge of the outer convexity. Most of them had a gentle rolling, tumbling kind of motion, often springing up sud- denly and being for the moment lost to view, but directly after found in the same spot. This springing occurred only when seen with the ringed side upwards. It seemed as if the little organism had got twisted upon flagella which suddenly untwisted, throwing the object immediately out of focus, though I could not with cer- tainty detect any flagella. The organism was quite new to me. In the other three dejections nothing of moment was noticed, save a very few of the same organisms and a few rods in the solid por- tion, the longest being beaded. ‘The wasp was exceedingly restless all the forenoon. The blow-fly some little time after feeding on the sugar with the blood-mixture had a dejection, which was directly examined, and found to contain a few beaded rods amongst a considerable amount of débris. The rods in each resembled the anthrax rods.

26th and 27th—Again fed on the sugar moistened with dis- tilled water, and a humble bee (Bombus lapidarius) which had been captured on the 27th, was fed in the same way. A dejection from it that had been passed on to the square of glass was ex- amined and furnished amongst the débris a few very thick short non-motile rods with rather pointed ends.

On the 28th, after changing the vessels and feeding with sugar, the three insects were unfortunately placed on the outside window- ledge in full sunshine, the window being slightly open. All were found dead at 3 p.m., supposed to be due to the powerful heat of the sun and a very free current of air. In the perivisceral cavities of the wasp and Bombus nothing of moment was noticed. The fly was not examined. The beetle (Blaps mortisaga) had not been fed on the blood-mixture, but on a variety of ordinary food-articles, and is still living.

That specimen of anthrax blood, it seems, was not pathogenic to the fly or wasp. The death of the three insects appeared to be solely due to the high temperature (136° F.) under confinement (heat asphyxia ?), as all were lively enough when the vessels were changed.

608 Transactions of the Society.

XIII.—On Four New Species of the Genus Floscularia, and Five other New Species of Rotifera.

By C. T. Hupson, LL.D., F.R.M.S.

(Read 18th May, 1885.) Puate XII.

WueEn in 1883 I described in the pages of this Journal four new species of Floscules, I did not anticipate that, in two years’ time, I should have as many more to add to the genus; and yet such is the case.

Scotland sends us two; one (discovered by Mr. J. Hood, of Dundee) with only two lobes, and one (discovered by Mr. W. Dingwall, of Dundee) without any lobes at all; so that there is now a regular series of Floscules with 7, 5, 3, 2 and O lobes.

England, however, caps these additions to our rotiferous fauna, with two of the strangest species that have yet been found in the genus Floscularia. The one has setze which appear to be always in motion, each slowly extending and contracting in amoeboid fashion, but always in the direction of its length. ‘The other, to the horror of every classifier, is a swimming Floscule; and, as if that were not absurdity enough, it carries its eyes nearly at the summit of its dorsal lobe.

The former of these was discovered by Mr. W. G. Cocks, of the Quekett Club, and the latter by Mr. T. Bolton, of Birmingham. Mr. Bolton has also added to his swimming Floscule a solitary swimming Conochilus, with an extraordinary pair of antenne; a large new Notommata with four spiky antennee; and a new species in each of Mr. Gosse’s rare genera Taphrocampa and Pompholyz ; while Mr. J. Hood has found yet another species of the rapidly extending genus Stephanops.

Indeed, the record of the last three or four years shows how many pleasant surprises Nature has yet in store for us, if there were only reapers for the harvest. If the Scotch lakes and the English ponds have contributed so many new and strange forms, when

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII.

Fig. 1.—Floscularia mutabilis (at rest). 2 Es Ss (swimming). 7 7 5 male.

» +£—Conochilus dossuarius.

» 0.—Notommata spicata.

», 6.—Stephanops armatus.

» 1.—Pompholyx sulcata (side view). >» &— rs » (front view). » %—Taphrocampa Saundersie.

JOURN. R. MICR. SOC. SER. I. VOLN_ Pl. XT.

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New Species of Floscularia, &c. By Dr. C. T. Hudson. 609

skilfully fished by Mr. Bolton and Mr. Hood, why should not the Welsh and Irish lakes, marsh ponds, and moorland pools yield forms equally curious and beautiful under similar treatment ?

Let any one reflect that during the hundred years from 1766 to 1866 there were only three known species of Floscules, and that in the next twenty years no less than eleven very remarkable species have been added to the older three, mainly through the persistent researches of Mr. Bolton in England and Mr. Hood in Scotland, and he will at once admit that it is rather the lack of skilled observers, than the poverty of Nature, which we have to complain of.

Floscularia mira n. sp. mihi.

This is perhaps the most remarkable of all the strange creatures that belong to the genus. It was discovered by Mr. W. G. Cocks.

It is a small Rotiferon; at least the only specimen that I have seen was but 1/100 in from the tops of the knobbed lobes to the extremity of the foot. It closely resembles F. ornata except in two points, viz. its tube and its setae. The tube is much more like the case of a Stephanoceros than that of a Floscule: but no great stress should be laid on this, as the cases of the tube-maker often differ a good deal from one another, even in the same species ; and of this species, as I have already said, I have seen but one specimen.

The setae, however, are absolutely unique; no other Rotiferon that I am acquainted with has anything resembling them. When seen by transmitted light there is nothing remarkable about them, except their great length and abundance ; but, with dark-field illumination, they are at once seen to be all lengthening and contracting like the fine processes of an Actinophrys, only at a more rapid rate.

The setee move quite independently of each other, not at all in groups; so that any score of them in view at once are in every phase of extension and contraction: and tiny particles may be seen to move along inside them as if carried by some current.

When a contracted seta begins to extend in length, its tip is often driven forward with a curious flourish, such as the end of an empty elastic tube might give if a stream of water were suddenly driven along it.

Floscularia mutabilis n. sp. Bolton. Plate XII. figs. 1, 2, and 3.

This swimming tube-maker was discovered by Mr. Bolton in September 1884, and named, figured, and described by him in one of his fly-leayes sent out with each specimen. It is about 1/65 in. long; and, when quiet in its tube (fig. 1), looks as if it

610 Transactions of the Society.

were some two-lobed Floscule that had dropped off its perch. The setze surrounding the trochal cup are somewhat scanty and short, but do not seem to differ from those of an ordinary species. After a few moments’ rest, however, the Floscule pulls down its two lobes, and so alters the aperture of its disk (fig. 2) that it now resembles: that of an Cicistes.

At the same time the sete lash the water as cilia do, and the creature sails away, case, eggs, and all, stern foremost. Mr. Bolton thinks that the sete are held stiffly out (as usual) when the Floscule swims, and that the motion is effected by a row of small cilia running round the trochal cup, just under the bases of the setae. In favour of this supposition is the fact, that some species of Floscules have such a row of cilia, and that just such an arrange- ment appears to exist in the male (fig. 38): but I confess that my own opinion is adverse to this suggestion. I spent much time watching the disk of F’. mutabilis as it swam, and it appeared to me that it was the row of sete themselves which set up the apparent ciliary action. It was very striking how each individual seta became instantly visible as the action ceased, though quite invisible before.

I saw two forms of young, one of which (fig. 3) I have little doubt is the male. I did not, however, succeed in catching it, and in viewing its internal organs.

Floscularia calva n. sp. mihi.

This is a rare Rotiferon, and was found last year by Mr. J. Hood in the lochs and marsh-pools of Fife and Forfar, on Myriophyllum and Sphagnum.

It is a very bad traveller, for it appears to withdraw its foot from the plant it is on, and to fix it in the tube itself. In con- sequence of this the tube and the Rotiferon are easily knocked off the ‘stem they were originally on ; and every specimen, that came to me alive, was lying at the bottom of the tube mixed up with débris of all kinds. Under these cireumstances it was difficult to observe it well; still 1 made out distinctly that it had only two lobes, a dorsal and a ventral one, and that the setsze were remarkably short. The dorsal lobe, as usual, was the larger, and was a little swollen at its highest point, so as to give it rather a knobbed look when seen sideways. The body too was unusually slender for its length, so that the whole outline from the junction of the foot to the top of the trochal cup was almost cylindrical.

It resembles F’. mutabilis in having only two lobes, but differs from it in its cylindrical shape, in the position of the eyes (which ig normal), and in the inability to alter its disk and swim.

It is the first two-lobed Floscule that has ever been found.

New Species of Floscularia, &e. By Dr. C. T. Hudson. 611

Floscularia edentata (?) Collins.

In this species the lobes of the trochal disk have vanished altogether. There is a wrinkled edge to the trochal cup, and a few short setz rise from it, chiefly towards the dorsal and ventral sides ; but its roughly circular outline has no elevations or hollows, and lies in a plane transverse to the long axis of the body. This animal was discovered by Mr. W. Dingwall, of Dundee, in July 1884, near Blair Athol. I have only seen two specimens, but they were exactly alike. It is a very stout Floscule with a broad body and short foot, and the internal organs in each case were obscured by the gorged stomach. In each case too there were eggs, both within the body, and attached to the foot. The lobeless trochal cup in no way resembled the delicate contrivance with which Apsilus lentiformis fishes for its prey: it was a stout inverted cone, just such a one as might be produced by trimming off the lobes of an ordinary Floscule.

I have considerable doubt as to whether this is a new species, or whether it is Floscularia edentata, which was discovered by Dr. F. Collins near Sandhurst about 1866, and described and figured by him in ‘Science-Gossip ’ for 1872, p. 9.

The figure and the description tally with Mr. Dingwall’s Rotifer in many respects; but Dr. Collins says that his animal had neither maxillary apparatus nor tube. The apparent absence of tube is of little consequence, as this structure has been repeatedly overlooked in Floscules that are well known to have it. The absence of maxil- lary apparatus in a female rotifer is, however, a much greater diffi- culty ; yet Dr. Collins says that his specimen had no teeth, and that its food passed directly through the throat into a very capacious stomach. He also adds, that each of his specimens laid an egg while under observation, thus showing that they were females. The length of his specimens was 1/80 in., and that of those sent to me by Mr. Dingwall was 1/55.

I am inclined to think that these Rotifera are the same, and so I have retained Dr. Collins’ name edentata; although it unluckily asserts as a specific distinction a doubtful fact: probably the teeth, which are at best small and inconspicuous, were lost to view in the gorged intestine.

Conochilus dossuarius n. sp. Bolton. Plate XII. fig. 4.

This is another swimming tube-maker, and is also one of Mr. Bolton’s prizes. The specimens sent to me were all solitary, and all swimming about in their cases; but Mr. Bolton noticed that the larger individuals have generally one or two younger specimens adhering to them.

612 Transactions of the Society.

The most remarkable features, in the new Conochilus, are the position and form of the antenne. These are long, and grow together for nearly two-thirds of their height ; and, as they stand perched on the ventral surface, remind one a little of a rifle-sight. They are too, for a Conochilus, in an unusual position; for in C. volvox they are close to the mouth, and within the inner circlet of cilia. In C. dossuarius they are far away from the mouth, and entirely outside the trochal disk.

The young of C. volvow are in the habit of clustering together, with their feet all tending to a common centre ; and, after swimming for some time in this odd fashion round about one another, they secrete tubes that fill up the spaces between the individual animals, and clasp them all together into one sphere. ~ But, from Mr. Bolton’s observation, this does not seem to be the case with C. dosswarius. Here young animals of different ages are attached by their tubes to the much larger tube of their common parent, forming clusters irregular in shape, and varying in size. However, I will not pursue the subject, as I hope that this summeny/resh specimens will enable us to see whether this Cono- chilus ever forms clusters, like the beautiful spheres of C. volvow.

Notommata spicata n. sp. mihi, Plate XII. fig. 5.

Mr. Bolton sent me this very large and remarkable Notommata in May 1884. It is 1/25 in. m length, and is surrounded with a transparent gelatinous covering, out of which peep the ends of its four dart-like antenne. It is something like N. centrura, but this latter has only one anterior antenna on the median dorsal line; and its two posterior dorsal antenne are not nearly as long as those of N. spicata, and are quite buried under the creature’s gelatinous coat. They both have the same funnel-like ciliated mouth, with its edges hanging down from under the ventral sur- face, but their general contour is unlike; N. centrwra, when viewed dorsally, is wider across the posterior end in proportion to its length: N. spicata tapers much more gradually. However, the four antenne are enough, I believe, to distinguish it from all other species.* It has a very long tapering stomach, much sacculated at its anterior end, and four gastric glands close beneath the mastax. The ovary, in the specimens I saw, was a long thick rope, with the germs lying in it singly one above another.

I had the good fortune to see the adorning of a lasting-egg with

* WN. spicata has a superficial resemblance to W. copeus; but the latter has a dorsal antenna on the median line (which the former lacks), as well as two stout, flexible, cylindrical auricles, which it moves into various positions, and each of which bears a circle of cilia on its free extremity. If WN. spicata has ciliated

auricles, I have not seen them exhibited: I only know N, copeus from Ehrenberg’s drawings and description.

New Species of Floscularia, &e. By Dr. C. T. Hudson. 613

its bristles. The large egg shown in fig. 5 was, when I first saw it, quite smooth ; and was separated by a clear space from its outer- most covering. After a little while the outline of the egg grew wavy, owing to small protuberances which projected into the clear space, and which by focusing I could see extended all over its surface. The growth of these protuberances was quite perceptible at the end of every ten minutes or so, and in two hours’ time they had grown long enough to stretch almost across the clear space that separated the two coverings of the egg. They were stouter than mere hairs, but cannot be effectively rendered on the small scale of fig. 5.

Stephanops avmatus n. sp. mihi. Plate XII. fig. 6.

This three-spined Stephanops was first found by Mr. J. Hood in Roscobbie Loch, in August 1884. I have not seen it; and the figure I have given is copied from a drawing of Mr. Hood’s. Its specific distinction lies in the presence of two posterior lateral spines, along with one long dorsal one.

As this genus has received several additions lately, I here subjoin an analysis of its species.

* No dorsal spine.

Without posterior spines .. Stephanops muticus Ehrenberg. With two ,, » +. 8. ctrratus Miller. With three _,, » ++ SS. lamellaris Miller.

** With a dorsal spine.

two toes .. S. longispinatus Tatem. three toes S. wniseta Collins. With one posterior spine... .. .. S&S. befureus Bolton. With two posterior spines.. .. .. S. armatus Hudson.

Besides these there are S. ovalis Schmarda and S. tridentatus Fresenius; but I have not seen the descriptions of these. Possibly the latter of the two may be the same as S. armatus. Mr. J. EK. Lord’s three-toed Stephanopst is I think probably Dr. Collins’s S. uniscta.

Without posterior spines \

Pompholyx suleata n. sp. Bolton. Plate XII. figs. 7 and 8.

This new species differs from Mr. Gosse’s P. complanata in the shape of the lorica. In this latter the lorica is greatly compressed dorsally and ventrally, so as actually to be concave at the median line on both surfaces. But in P. sulcata the dorsal and ventral

+ Microscopical News, iy. (1884) p. 146, fig. 24. Ser, 2.—Vo. V. 238

614 Transactions of the Society.

surfaces are both sharply convex, and there are convex lateral surfaces as well; in fig. 8 a transverse section of the lorica is given, showing its four-lobed form. This may be easily obtained from the live animal, as it has a habit of swimming head downwards with its trochal disk close to the glass.

Mr. Bolton found this pretty little rotifer last summer in the same water with Conochilus dossuarius.

Taphrocampa Saundersiz n. sp. Gosse. Pl. XII. fig. 9.

Mr. Bolton sent me several specimens of a new Taphrocampa in July 1884. It is somewhat like Mr. Gosse’s T. annulosa, but differs from it in having a square curved hood projecting downwards over the head, and looking like a hook in profile; also in having two colourless spots like eyes on the head; as well as a stout short truncate tail, just above the forked foot.

I did not notice the slightest trace of ciliary action about the head, neither has Mr. Gosse observed any, either in this species orin 7. annulosa; and yet it is possible that both animals possess ciliated auricles, for Mr. E. B. Brayley, the Hon. Secretary of our Bristol Microscopical Society, has given me a rough sketch of an animal which is probably T. annulosa, and which on several occasions he observed to put out little tufted auricles from the sides of its head and swim with “a slight vermiform movement.” He thinks also that “a row of very short cilia extend right across the forehead.”

Mr. Gosse has named this new animal 7. Saundersiz, after Miss Saunders, of Cheltenham, who has sent both to Mr. Gosse and myself several specimens of rare Rotifera.

I have been compelled by lack of leisure to give very brief notices of the above new species, and but few figures; but they will be dealt with in a more satisfactory manner in the Monograph on the Rotifera by Mr. Gosse and myself, which is now being prepared for publication.

(276155

SUMMARY

OF OURRENT RESEAROHES RELATING TO

2.0 GY AND. BOUT AUN Y, (principally Invertebrata and Cryptogamia),

MICROSCOPY, &c., INCLUDING ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM FELLOWS AND OTHERS.*

ZOOLOGY.

A. GENERAL, including Embryology and Histology of the Vertebrata.

Unity of the Process of Spermatogensis in Mammalia.f—M. Laulainé recognizes two periods in the process of spermatogenesis ; the first is one of proliferation (formation of spermatoblasts), the second of differentiation (evolution of spermatoblasts); the former has been observed to take place either endo- or exo-genetically. In the horse and the pig spermatogenesis is similar to that in the rat, but the author does not agree with Balbiani in regarding the pheno- menon as exogenetic in character; indeed, the term exogenetic can only be used if we ceased to ascribe to it the meaning of there being proliferation by budding, and limit it to the intervention of the ramified cells first described by Sertoli. In mammals with an exogenetic method of spermatogenesis, the spermatoblasts are collected by the cells of Sertoli, and go through all the phases of their development on the surface of these cells; the last are only permanent elements of sup- port. In all mammals proliferation takes place by division.

Formation of the Blastoderm in the Bird’s Egg.t—M. M. Duval denies that there is any absolute line of demarcation beyond the germ proper and the white yolk; indeed, we cannot even say that the * vitellus de formation ” only takes part in the process of segmentation, and that the ‘ vitellus de nutrition” has no share in it, for after the formation of the blastoderm a secondary segmentation goes on in the re- mainder of the yolk; and it is impossible to say exactly where this secondary segmentation ends. Segmentation, as Kélliker has pointed out, is excentric, or commences at a point which does not correspond

* The Society are not intended to be denoted by the editorial “ we,” and they do not hold themselves responsible for the views of the authors of the papers noted, or for any claim to novelty or otherwise made by them. ‘The object of this part of the Journal is to presenta summary of the papers as actually published, and to describe and illustrate Instruments, Apparatus, &c., which are either new or have not been previously described in this country.

+ Comptes Rendus, c. (1885) pp. 1407-9.

¢ Ann. Sci. Nat.—Zool., xvili. (1884) 208 pp. and 5 pls. a te

8

616 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

to the centre of the future blastoderm, and goes on most actively in this region ; to this the author adds the rider that the point where the most active segmentation commences corresponds to the future posterior region of the blastoderm, and we can, therefore, early distin- guish the front from the hind end. Like those of lower vertebrates the ova of birds have a true segmentation cavity, which has the form of a slit, is often difficult to recognize, and marks the point where the ectodermal are separated from the subjacent elements; as segmen- tation extends more deeply it affects the yolk-layers which ought to be considered as belonging to the white yolk; but at a certain depth this segmentation seems to stop; it does not really do so, there is only a modification of its rhythm ; the cavity formed by the furrows is the subgerminal cavity which is produced from behind forwards, and is the homologue of the primitive enteron of Batrachians, or in other words, represents the gastrula-invagination of lower verte- brates. :

After the formation of this subgerminal cavity a number of free

nuclei are to be found in the yolk which forms its floor; these arise

from nuclei which, during the formation of the cavity, had divided into two ; of the halves one remained in one of the deeper spheres of the blastoderm, and the other in the floor of the segmentation cavity. A secondary segmentation appeared around these nuclei, which, at first inactive, afterwards became very active; the multiplication of nuclei in the yolk gives rise to the production of the vitelline endoderm.

The blastoderm of the freshly laid egg is formed of two layers ; the upper consists of a single row of cells, which form a distinct ecto- derm; the cells of the lower layer vary in size, are in the stage of segmentation, and form an irregular mass from which arises both endoderm and mesoderm; this may be called the primitive endo- dermic mass.

From the time when segmentation ends until the appearance of the primitive groove, the edge of the blastoderm passes through three stages ; it is at first raised into a ridge, and the ectoderm is continuous with the endoderm; the latter consists of several layers of cells and forms the greater part of the swelling. The ectoderm then separates from the primitive endoderm along the edges of the blastoderm, and, while the ectoderm extends very far over the yolk, the margin of the endoderm fuses with the yolk, to form an endodermo-vitelline enlarge- ment; as the yolk divides around each nucleus there appear large cells which, by further division, increase the surface of the endoderm. We next have a large vitelline layer (vitelline endoderm) with free nuclei, and finally a layer of yolk without nuclei.

The author finds that it is necessary to distinguish the axial plate and the primitive line as two successive phases of one and the same ean the former has the same constitution as the blastodermic ridge.

_ All along the axial plate the connections of the ectoderm with the primitive endodermic mass exist from the moment when there first appear the rudiments of this plate; when its groove becomes more

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 617

deeply hollowed, the connections between the ectoderm and the axial plate seem to become more intimate along its base, and, at the same time, the groove becomes divided into proper endoderm and meso- derm. It is the multiplication of the elements of this mesodermic plate that causes the greater distinctness of the groove of the primitive line. The axial plate of birds ought to be considered as the homologue of the anus of Rusconi in Batrachians; it is rudimentary, indeed, its lips being fused in a kind of antero-posterior median raphe, and it is at these lips that we have most actively multiplying the elements which are destined to form the mesoderm. At the bottom of the groove the mesoderm grows at the expense of a cellular mass which is common to the mesoderm and ectoderm; but this fact must not be ornare to prove the origin of the middle from the outer germinal ayer.

In combining with his own the results of other workers, M. Duval

takes occasion to consider the work of his predecessors.

Physiological Purpose of Turning the Incubating Hen’s Egg.“ —The sitting fowl frequently turns her eggs during incubation, and when this process is carried on artificially, mechanical means must be adopted to effect the same purpose.

M. C. Dareste finds that during the first week of artificial incuba- tion, eggs which are turned develope in essentially the same manner as those which are allowed to rest, but the monstrosities which have already been formed in the latter soon take on an excessive develop- ment, and in very few eggs which are allowed to remain unmoved during the whole period of incubation does the body-cavity of the embryo become closed in. ‘The cause of death in the unmoved eggs is, according to Dareste, the union by growth of the allantois with the egg-yolk, which latter is thus prevented from becoming finally absorbed into the alimentary canal preliminary to the closure of the body-cavity. These adhesions of the allantois with the vitelline membrane lead to frequent rupture of the latter, whose contents are thus largely lost to the embryo. Death of the chick in the unturned eggs usually occurs about the second week of incubation, When the eggs are turned over it is probable that the position of the allantois upon the yolk is shifted, and this daily movement prevents adhesion between the two surfaces,

Sixteen eggs were placed under the same conditions of artificial incubation, but eight were allowed to remain unmoved, while the eight remaining were turned over twice aday. In the first set absorp- tion of the yolk did not occur in any specimen, and all the embryos died in the course of the second or third week. In the second set, in six eggs the yolk was absorbed in the normal manner ; in a seventh, opened on the twenty-second day, the chick was alive and hearty and the yolk was being absorbed; in the eighth egg the chick was dead on the twentieth day, and adhesion between the allantois and yolk had prevented absorption of the latter.

* Comptes Rendus, c, (1885) pp. 813-4. See Amer, Naturalist, xix. (1885) pp. 619-20.

618 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

Colours of Bird’s Eggs.*—Dr. O. Laschenberg has published a short abstract of his investigations into this subject; the more im- portant results are as follows :—As Krukenberg has stated, the ground coloration originates in a different way from the spots and markings, though both are derived from the blood and not from special pigment- glands. The ground coloration is caused by a transudation through the uterus which is richly supplied with blood-vessels ; the spots are formed by particles of pigment which are found throughout the ovi- duct and probably arise in the Graafian follicle; the formation of pigment is no doubt to be referred to a process similar to that which causes the corpus luteum in the ovary of mammals.

Development of Epicrium.j{— Herren P. B. and C. F. Sarasin have taken advantage of their visit to Ceylon to investigate the deve- lopmental history of Epicrium glutinosum. The ovarian eggs are more like those of reptiles than of amphibians, are oval in form, and about 9 mm. in their longest and 6:5 mm. in their shortest diameter ; there was a considerable quantity of yolk, and a rounded whitish germinal disk, in the centre of which is the darker germinal vesicle; the arrange- ment of the yolk was not unlike that which is seen in the bird; in the oviducts the ova become surrounded by a quantity of albumen, and a spirally coiled cord appears at either pole. Epicrium, unlike its American ally Cecilia, lays eggs, and also hatches them. Embryos about 4 cm. long move livelily in their shelis; on either side of and behind the head arises a tuft of three blood-red external gills, which constantly move about in the ovarian fluid. The three tufts vary in length, the shortest being 2, the longest 9 mm. long; the tail, which is short but quite distinct, has a well-marked fin; the eye appears to be proportionately very large and distinct; dermal sensory organs can be made out with the aid of a magnifying glass, and have the appearance of white dots: the body is of a greyish-blue colour, clearer below, and has a black stripe along the dorsal middle line; the two beautiful yellow bands which are found in the adult are absent from the embryo. The gills develope very early ; when they are lost, the young pass into the nearest pool and begin to lead a free life. In the water they grow to a length of about 16 cm., and lose their gill- clefts and caudal fin; the structure of the skin changes, and they become adapted to a terrestrial mode of life.

The authors are of opinion that the Gymnophiona are to be asso- ciated with or stand quite close to the Urodela; as embryos they are perennibranchiata, as larve derotrematous, and in their adult terrestrial condition they correspond to the Salamandrina. Embryology is sup- ported in this view by histology, for the spermatozoa have been found to have an undulating membrane, and by anatomy, for there is a fourth arterial arch in the vascular system of the adult.

Translocation forwards of the Rudiments of the Pelvic Fins in the Embryos of Physoclist Fishes, —Mr. J. A. Ryder cites the

* Zool, Anzeig., viii. (1885) pp. 243-5. t Arbeit. Zool.-Zoot. Inst. Wirzburg, vii. (1885) pp. 291-9, $ Amer, Natural., xix. (1885) pp. 315-7.

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 619

observations of A. Agassiz on the translocation forwards of the rudi- ments of the pelvic fins in the young larva of Lophius, as demon- strating beyond any doubt that the Physoclisti have descended from the Physostomi.

Silver-reducing Animal Organs.*—The success of Drs. O. Loew and T’. Bokorny with vegetable cells induced the former to try and see if the protoplasm of animal cells would not likewise have a silver- reducing effect. Into between fifty and one hundred cubic centimetres of a solution which contained about 5 per cent. of silver the author placed the kidneys freshly taken from a frog or toad, with the ventral side turned upwards; the light was immediately cut off, but within fifteen minutes the bright bands on the surface became darkened, and in less than two hours were quite black. This very remarkable reaction is only to be observed with living tissues. The tissue may be seen under the Microscope to be traversed by black dots, more or less closely packed together. If the kidneys are left for twelve hours in the solution, a number of black dots may be observed in the interior of the kidney, and especially in the neigh- bourhood of such canals and other spaces as afford an easy means of passage for the reagent. These experiments are sufficient to show that living animal protoplasm can effect a reduction of silver.

Effects of .Very Low Temperatures on Living Organisms,,— Mr. J. J. Coleman and Prof. M‘Kendrick have made some remark- able experiments on the effects of low temperatures on living organisms, particularly microbes, using for this purpose the cold-air machinery invented by Mr. Coleman, which, in its ordinary working, delivers streams of air cooled to about 80° below zero (—63° C.), but by certain modifications as low temperatures can be secured as have yet been produced in physical researches.

The experiments consisted in exposing for hours to low tempera- tures putrescible substances in hermetically sealed tins or bottles, or in flasks plugged with cotton-wool. The tins or flasks were then allowed to thaw, and were kept in a warm room, the mean tempera- ture of which was about 80° F. They were then opened, and the contents submitted to microscopical examination. The general result may be stated thus:—The vitality of micro-organisms cannot be destroyed by prolonged exposure to extreme cold. It is clear, there- fore, that any hope of preserving meat by permanently sterilizing it by cold must be abandoned, for the microbes, which are the agents of putrefaction, survive the exposure.

Some of the experiments on which this conclusion rests are briefly described. Meat in tins, exposed to 63° C. for six hours, underwent (after thawing) putrefaction with generation of gases. Trials with fresh urine showed that freezing at very low temperatures delayed the appearance of the alkaline fermentation, but a temperature of 63° O, for eight hours did not sterilize the urine. Samples of fresh milk

* Pfliiger’s Archiv f. d. Gesammt. Physiol., xxxiv. (1885) pp. 596-601, + Journ, of Anat. and Physiol., xix. (1885) pp. 335-44.

620 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

exposed to temperatures of from zero to —80° F. for eight hours, curdled, and showed the well-known Bacterium lactis; and so far as could be observed, freezing did not delay the process after the flasks were kept at a temperature of about 50° F. Similar results were obtained with ale, meat-juice, vegetable infusions, &e.

It is probable that the micro-organisms were frozen solid. One cannot suppose that in these circumstances any of the phenomena of life take place; the mechanism is simply arrested, and vital changes resume their course, when the condition of a suitable tem- perature is restored. ‘These conditions led the authors to examine whether any of the vital phenomena of higher animals might be re- tained at such low temperatures. ‘They ascertained that a live frog may be frozen through quite solid in about half-an-hour at a tem- perature of —20° to —30° F. On thawing slowly, in two instances the animal completely recovered. After longer exposure the animals did not recover. In two cases frogs were kept in an atmosphere of —100° F. for twenty minutes, and although they did not revive, yet, after thawing out, their muscles still responded feebly to electrical stimulation. One experiment was performed on a warm-blooded animal—a rabbit. The cold-blooded frog became as hard as a stone in from ten to twenty minutes, but the rabbit produced in itself so much heat as enabled it to remain soft and comparatively warm during an hour’s exposure to —100° F. Still its production of heat was unequal to make good the loss, and every instant it was losing ground, until, at the end of the hour, its bodily temperature had fallen about 56° F. below the normal, but was still 143° F. above the surrounding temperature. When taken out the animal was coma- tose, and reflex action was abolished. Placed in a warm room, its temperature rose rapidly, and the rabbit completely recovered.

The observations are of great value and highly suggestive. Those upon the rabbit indicate that death from cold is preceded by loss of consciousness, owing to the early suppression of the activity of the grey matter of the encephalon. This confirms the belief that death by freezing is comparatively painless. The viability of microbes at low temperatures has also been demonstrated by Pictet and Yung,* who found that various bacilli can survive —70° C. for 109 hours. After such exposure, Bacillus anthracis retained its virulence when injected into a living animal.

“We cannot refrain from asking, Are not frozen micro-organisms the means of disseminating life through the universe? An affirma- tive answer is at least a better hypothesis than the assumption of Spontaneous generation to account for the origin of life on the earth. May not life be coeval with energy? May it not have always existed ?” f

Bell’s ‘Comparative Anatomy and Physiology.’ t{—In this manual Professor I. Jeffrey Bell arranges the elementary facts of zoology by

* See this Journal, iv. (1884) p. 432. + Mr. C. S. Minot in Science, y. (1885) pp. 522-3.

¢ Bell, F. J., ‘Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, 555 pp. and 229 fie 8vo, Cassell and Co., London, 1885, Y SSP Ub Gor de Sh ca

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 621

organs instead of by the groups of animals; he says in his preface that he has constantly kept before himself, and hopes “the student will faithfully bear in mind that there has been an evolution of organs as well as of animals, and that he who desires to understand the most complicated organs must first know the structure of such as are more simply constituted.” There are a large number of woodcuts, many of which are new to English text-books, and the more important discoveries of recent years appear to be incorporated with what the author calls “the general property of zoological workers.” There is @ copious index to the animals mentioned in the text.

B. INVERTEBRATA.

Action of Cocain on Invertebrates.*—M. Richard finds that an injection of hydrochlorate of cocain stops the heart of a snail in diastole ; the animal will recover from a dose of 0°003 gr.; it takes longer to recover from twice as large a dose, and if 0-025 gr. are given the animal takes two days to recover. An earthworm soon has the middle part of its body rendered insensible by the injection of a dose of 0-006 gr., but the two ends retain their power of movement ; a further dose of the same strength causes the voluntary movements to slowen gradually, but it takes 20 hours before they cease altogether. A small colony of Bryozoa was placed in 5 ec.c. of fresh water to which 0-5 c.c. of 100 per cent. solution of cocain were added; the animals remained extended ; ten minutes afterwards, a shaking of the glass made them retreat normally. Daphnie resist for a long time the action of the drug. Hydre in 5 c.c. of water ta which 1 ¢.c. of the solution was slowly added, died in an extended state, and for them and for Bryozoa the author suggests the use of the drug as enabling us to preserve these delicate animals in an extended condition.

Enterochlorophyll and Allied Pigments.t—Dr. C. A. MacMunn in 1885 described the spectroscopic and other characters of entero- chlorophyll which was obtained from the liver or other appendage of the enteron of various invertebrates. It is now shown that this pigment is not due to the presence of symbiotic algw, or immediate food-products, but is built up by the animal containing it.

Taking the six bands ¢ of vegetable chlorophyll in alcoholic solu- tion described by Kraus, the first two and the fourth are coincident with those of enterochlorophyll in a similar solution ; the third band is, however, frequently missing from the latter. The fifth and sixth bands belong to the yellow constituent, which Hansen shows to be a lipochrome ; the corresponding bands in the case of enterochlorophyll also belong to a lipochrome, and are not always coincident with the lipochrome bands of plant-chlorophyll. This was proved by saponi- fying enterochlorophyll by Hansen’s method. But saponification of vegetable chlorophyll changes it considerably, as bands of a solution,

* Comptes Rendus, c. (1885) pp. 1409-11.

+ Proc. Roy. Soc., xxxviii. (1885) pp. 319-22.

t The five bands in a leaf, as described by Kraus, can be secn by using a micro-spectroscope of small dispersion and a good substage achromatic condenser.

622 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TOC

before saponifying, do not éorrespond with those of a similar solution after saponifying. THansen’s results were confirmed as far as the separation of “chlorophyll-green” and “chlorophyll-yellow” are concerned, and the crystals described by him obtained.

While the dominant band of “ chlorophyll-green” in solutions of plant-chlorophyil is moved much nearer the violet by saponifying, or split up into two in some cases, the corresponding band of entero- chlorophyll disappears in toto, or remains in the same place. Another difference was also noted in the case of enterochlorophyll and in the case of Spongilla-chlorophyll, namely, that it is impossible to bring about a complete separation of the constituents in most cases by saponifying and treating as Hansen directs.

All the bands of asolution of Spongilla-chlorophyll are coincident with those of a similar solution of plant-chlorophyll, as already proved by Prof. Lankester and Dr. Sorby.

From the enterochlorophyll of Uraster rubens crystals of “ chloro- phyll-yellow ” and “ chlorophyll-green ” were obtained by saponifying.

Morphologically, enterochlorophyll occurs—as proved by the ex- amination of fresh-frozen sections—in oil-globules, granules, and dissolved in the protoplasm of the liver-cells ; no starch or cellulose could be found in such sections after adopting the usual botanical precautions.

Hence enterochlorophyll is an animal product, and a chlorophyll of which there are probably several recurring in animals.

Mollusca.

Buccal Membrane of Cephalopoda.*—M. L. Vialleton has studied the morphological nature of the buccal membrane of cephalopods by the aid of its nervous supply, and comes to the conclusion that the muscular mass of the lobes, the presence of suckers, and, above all, the existence in each of the ganglionic cord, analogous to the nerves of the arms and of the same origin as they, show that we must regard these lobes as true rudimentary arms ; if this be so it is clear that the buccal membrane belongs to a series of arms in which the interbrachial membrane is proportionately better developed than the - arms themselves. He rejects the view that the membranes are to be regarded as hypertrophied lips, inasmuch as the nerves are received from the sub-cesophageal portion of the cerebral mass, whereas the labial nerves arise from the supra-cesophageal portion. Loligo vulgaris and Sepia officinalis were the two types studied.

Pancreatic Function of the Cephalopod Liver.;—Mr. A. B. Griffiths, in addition to the facts already brought forward { to show that the cephalopod liver is pancreatic in function, now adduces the following.

Portions of the organ removed from a fresh Sepia had an alkaline

* Comptes Rendus, c. (1885) pp. 1301-3.

i ae News, li. (1885) p. 160. See Journ, Chem. Soc.—Abstr., xl viii. (1885) pp. —30. + Chem, News, xlviii. (1884) p. 37.

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 623

reaction, converted starch into dextrose, and oil into fatty acids ; 6 mgrms. of the tissue of the organ rendered 15 c.c. of milk trans- parent in four hours. Moreover, the ferment, removed from the organ, previously hardened by treatment with alcohol, by extraction with glycerol and subsequent precipitation with alcohol, converted starch into dextrose, and fibrin into leucine and tyrosine. The organ contains neither glycoholic nor taurocholic acid nor glycogen ; it is therefore evident that this so-called “liver” is a true pancreas.

Artificial Fecundation of Mollusca.*—Mr. W. Patten has suc- ceeded in the artificial fertilization of the ova of Haliotis and Patella ; this experiment has not been previously performed on any mollusc. Careful investigations were made in order to exclude the possibility of there having been a previous internal fertilization ; the absence of an albuminiparous gland and external sexual organs in these molluscs appears to show that the ova undergo naturally an external fecun- dation.

Development of Generative Organs of Pulmonata.t—Herr J. Brock finds that the generative organs of pulmonate gastropods begin to be developed in the last stage of larval life; just below the cutis there is, on the right side and in front of the cesophageal ring, a fine cord of cells with a distinct lumen. A little later there is distinct evidence of the presence of a commencing hermaphrodite gland, and it is found that it and the efferent organs are developed in one and the same mesodermal blastema. Primordial ova appear very early. The author is convinced that in the formation of the external generative orifice the ectoderm does not take any share, by the formation of any invagination. After the formation of the oviduct the vas deferens appears; after this there is growth, but for a time no new formation ; then the receptaculum seminis appears in the form of a wide-necked outgrowth of the genital atrium. The author was not able to follow out the later stages, but he thinks it is clear that the simple condition of the generative organs which is permanent in the Prosobranchiata is passed through during the development of the Pulmonata.

Microscopic Anatomy of Dentalium.{—Prof. H. Fol finds that the epidermis of Dentalium is nothing more than a simple epithelium, the characters of which vary in different regions; at either extremity of the tube formed by the mantle some of the cells are modified to form a mass of very large glandular cells; each of these is imbedded in the subjacent dermal tissue and has a more or less flask-shaped form, and is filled by a granular secretion; one of these unicellular glands may be one hundred times as large as the ordinary epidermic cells; they are the chief agents in the formation of the shell.

The nerve-ganglia are formed of a cortical grey and an internal white substance; the latter consists solely of nevve-fibrils, without any neuroglia; the grey matter is made up of ganglionic cells which

* Zool. Anzeig., viii. (1885) pp. 236-7. + Nachr. K. Gesell. Wiss. Gottingen, 1884, pp. 499-504. + Comptes Rendus, c. (1885) pp. 1353-5,

624 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

are all unipolar. In the central ganglia groups of very large cells alternate quite regularly with other masses which are formed of much. smaller cells.

The muscles are composed of ribbon-shaped smooth fibres, disposed like those of the non-striated muscles of higher vertebrates; in each fibre there is a rod-shaped nucleus. In the foot the muscles are very regularly arranged, and form two external circular layers, within which are some thirty longitudinal bundles. —

The digestive tube is clothed by a simple epithelium, which is in some regions distinctly glandular, and in others ciliated; the liver and the kidney are hollow pouches, the wall of which is a simple glandular epithelium ; below the anus there is a pouch common to the two halves of the kidney.

The generative organs are filled by a compact mass of generative products; near the surface of the ovary there are young ovules, the greater part of which is occupied by the nucleus, within which there is a nucleolus composed of two very dissimilar halves. In the mature ovum the double nucleolus disappears. M. Fol has not been able to find the efferent genital canal which has been described by Lacaze- “Duthiers; the glands appear to him to empty themselves merely by dehiscence into the pallial cavity, the renal gland, or, as is most probable, by the anal gland.

Nervous System of Fissurella.*—M. L. Boutan describes the nervous system of Fissurella aliernata and comes to a different con- clusion from that arrived at by Ihering from an investigation of F. maxima. In Fissurella, as in the typical nervous system of Gasteropoda, there are two cerebroid, two pedal, and five asymmetrical ganglia. There is, besides, a triangular nervous mass the morpho- logical signification of which has been pointed out by Lacaze-Duthiers. This triangle is a simple extension of the pedal and the two first asymmetrical ganglia, which, being linked together, have acquired an exceptional development and become drawn out.

The nervous system of Parmophora is intermediate between that of Haliotis and of Fissurella ; Emarginula is likewise furnished with the nervous mass above named and ranks between Parmophora and Fissurella, for the coalescence of the pedal and asymmetrical centres is carried in each animal a little less far than in the last-named type.

Anatomy and Systematic Position of Halia priamus Risso.;— M. J. Poirier gives a full description of the anatomical structure of Halia priamus Risso. With the exception of the operculum, which is wanting, the greater number of the organs resemble in form those of Buccinum. The formula of the radula is 1, 1, 1, not 1, 0, 1 as has been erroneously stated. Hence its systematic position is no longer with the Pleurotomide where lately it has been placed, but with the Buccinide.

Tectibranchiata of the Gulf of Marseilles.;:—M. A. Vayssiére has examined thirty-seven species of Tectibranchs; they are all Opistho-

* Comptes Rendus, c. (1885) pp. 467-9. + lbid., pp. 461-4. { Ibid., pp. 1389-91,

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 625

branchiata, and von Ihering was wrong in denying this. The incom- pletely known Notarchus has a small shell very like that of Gastro- pleron meckelii, its digestive tract and generative organs are almost exactly like those of Aplysia, and the same is true of its nervous system.

In Umbrella mediterranea the nervous system, as in almost all Tectibranchs, has a very delicate subcesophageal intercerebral commis- sure; the presence of otocysts was determined, and these organs, though lying in the pedal ganglia, are attached by very small nerves to the cerebral ganglion. The cesophageal nerve-collar of Tylodina, though very like that of Umbrella, has three instead of two visceral ganglia, and the median one gives rise to the genital nerves. Leach’s name of Ascanius is applied to Pleurobranchus membranaceus and P. tuberculatus, and the genus is regarded as being intermediate between Pleurobranchus and Pleurobranchea.

Classification of the Lamellibranchs.*—Dr. M. Neumayr gives a new classification of the Lamellibranchs, founded upon the hinge.

The oldest forms have no, or only the faintest, trace of hinge- teeth, the shells are thin, and there is usually neither mark of muscle nor of pallial sinus. For these forms, supposed to have two equal adductor muscles and an entire mantle-line, the order Paleconche is proposed. From these are supposed to diverge the Desmodonta, with- out hinge-teeth, or with irregular hinge-teeth, with two equal adductor muscles and with a pallial sinus ; and the Taxodontx, with numerous undifferentiated teeth and two equal muscles. ‘T'o the first of these groups belong the Pholadomyide, Corbulide, Myide, Anatinide, Mactride, Paphide, Glycimceride, and Solenidz (?), and to the second the Arcide and Nucalide. The Tubicole forma suborder of the Des- modonta. From the Taxodonta branch off in one direction the Hetero- donta, with distinct cardinal and lateral teeth fitting into each other, and two muscle impressions (Najade, Carinide, Astartide, Crassatel- lide, Megalodontide, Chamide, (Rudistes) (Tridacnide), Erycinide, Lucinide, Cardiide, Cyrenide, Cyprinide, Veneride, Gnathodontide, Tellinidw, Donacide, and in another, the Anisomyaria, with irregular or no hinge - teeth, two unequal muscles or one only, and no pallial sinus. These form two suborders, Heteromyaria (Aviculida, Mytilide, Prasinide, Pinnidew ) and Monomyaria (Pectinide, Mytilide, Spondylide, Anomide, Ostreide). The Trigonide are considered a suborder of Heterodonta.

Development of Cyclas cornea.t—Dr. H. E. Ziegler finds that the segmentation of the egg of Cyclas is, from the first, unequal ; and the small cells, as usual, divide more rapidly than the larger. The egg, like those of the Najadw, has a micropyle ; the carlier stages of cleay- age are passed through in the brood-sacs. The observations on the gastrulation were incomplete, but there was seen to be invagination, and two large primitive mesenchym-cells were detected. The differ- ences in the quantity of fluid found between the ectoderm and endo-

* 8B. K. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Ixxxviii. (1884) pp. 385-420 (1 pl.). Amer.

Natural., xix. (1885) pp. 404-5. See also this Journal, ante, p. 229, + Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool., xli. (1885) pp. 525-69 (2 pls.).

626 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

derm of various individuals seem to be due to physiological relations. The blastopore is in the form of a slit, the length of which is about equal to that of the archenteron; the hinder end of the gut never separates from the ectoderm, and the anus arises at their point of junction. Dr. Ziegler compares the mode of development which obtains in Lamellibranchs with what is found in Gastropods, and shows how they both point to a common primitive mode of develop- ment.

The trochophore of Cyclas has all the organs homologous with those found in the corresponding stage of marine Lamellibranchs and Gastropods; as to the locomotor organs, the trochophore of Cyclas diverges somewhat from the marine Lamellibranchs and approaches rather the Pulmonata.

In describing the development of various organs, the author insists that the pericardiac cavity is not, as has been thought, part of the blood-vascular system, its fluid is not blood, and contains no blood- corpuscles. The gill-lamella is, at first, a simple fold; and, as differ- entiation extends from before backwards, it is possible in one and the same gill to observe various stages in the process of differentiation ; from its lower margin the outer ectodermal layer gradually forms a fold which has the form of a groove, and this gradually grows up- wards; there then appears on the lower margin of the fold a small corresponding infolding of the inner ectodermal layer; the lamella fuse, and vertical clefts appear in their substance. After describing the appearance of the brood-pouches, the author concludes with a short account of the genital glands; these form at an early stage two club-shaped masses which touch in the middle line; the sexes are united, and the disposition of parts is such that there appears to be self-impregnation.

Manner in which Lamellibranchs attach themselves to Foreign Objects.*—Dr. J. T. Cattie describes the means by which the common mussel attaches itself to foreign objects. When the foot commences to grope about, it may become two or three times as long as the body of the animal without finding any object within its vicinity ; it then moves about till it finds some point of support ; when this is effected there appears from the transverse cleft, which terminates the ventral groove, a whitish substance which gradually becomes more opaque ; sometimes the slit takes on the form of an equilateral triangle, and then the quantity of matter which exudes from it is greater; this matter obviously comes from the cylindrical tubes which are scattered in the glandular substance of the foot. A terminal plate having been formed the foot is withdrawn, and the plate and the byssus are merely connected by a delicate thread. The time necessary for an animal of average size to form the plate varies between 55 and 90 seconds; in some cases two connecting threads become developed. The terminal plate, when studied under the Microscope, was found to be formed of thousands of small granules, irregularly distributed, and varying considerably in size. The fine threads appear to be

* Tijdschr. Neder]. Dierk. Vereen., vi. (1882-5) pp. 56-63.

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 627

formed by the agglutination of granules of various sizes, but large granules are formed by the fusion of several smaller ones.

The formation of the byssus is regarded by the author as being very simple; the walls and the lamelle of the byssus-cavity con- tinually secrete a byssogenous matter; the lamelle in the anterior and narrow part of the cavity unite and fuse with one another, while the narrower shape of the orifice gives the byssus-threads their form. Owing to the relations of the ventral groove of the foot each byssus- thread is immediately fused to the main trunk.

The author doubts the correctness of A. Miiller’s view that there is an agglutinating and a byssogenous substance; and speaks severely of the artificial character of that author’s classification of the species.

General Characters of Cymbulia,*—The Pteropoda being so purely pelagic in their habit, places them out of the reach of zoologists in general; and even systematic writers, as in other cases, are often misguided by incorrect figures and descriptions made up probably from scanty or defective data, but which have, nevertheless, been handed down to us with a show of truth. Dr. J. D. Macdonald was impressed with the idea that the figures and descriptions of the species of Cymbulia extant were not reliable; and having had an opportunity of examining some specimens taken in the Indian Ocean, he found that such was really the case.

In the natural position of the animal the toe of the hyaline slipper of Cymbulia should be taken as posterior, and the broadly notched heel as anterior. Both animal and shell are reversed in Mr. Adams’s figure of Cymbulia proboscidea, but this is, after all, an error of less importance than that in De Blainville’s figure, in which, although the shell is represented in its proper position, the animal is reversed. A pair of eyes are also given in a position where ears alone would be possible, while there is no more evidence of the existence of eyes in Cymbulia than in any other genus of Pteropods. The notion of a ventral connecting lobe between the fins is a mistake, though these organs are connected above and behind so as to form a broad, con- tinuous plate.

Molluscoida. a, Tunicata.

Development of Social Ascidians.t—Dr. O. Seeliger finds in the Salpidw, Doliolids, and Anchinia various modifications of a true alternation of generation which, as a developmental cycle, was peculiar to their common stem-form. This form was free-swimming and developed ventral buds, just as now the tailed Doliolum-larva developes the rosette-shaped organ. Primitively the solitary forms may have passed over their capacity to develope generative products to the buds, but very soon the whole of the embryonic material appears to have passed into the buds, which had probably a somewhat complicated structure. The developmental cycle of the Pyrosoma- tide is also to be referred to the budding of the same free-swimming

* Proc. Roy. Soc., xxxviii. (1885) pp. 251-3 ( 1 fig.) + Jenaisch. Zeitschr. f. Naturwiss., xviii. (1885) pp. 528-96.

628 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

stem-form ; the generation of the ascidiozooid was, however, inter- calated between the sexually formed solitary form, and the first generation of ventral buds. The cycle of the composite Ascidians had a somewhat different origin, for it sprang from a bud which appeared after the free-swimming stem-form became fixed : the various differences which we now observe only appeared later in its history.

It is probable that the pelagic Tunicates and the Ascidie are only connected by a very old larva-like stem-form, which was endowed with the power of multiplying asexually. This stem-form was distinguished from the Appendiculariz by the two arterial passages fusing into a dorsal cavity, which opened to the exterior by an un- paired orifice.

In his second chapter the author considers the developmental history of the Ascidians in its relations to the theory of the germinal layers; he concludes that there is a fundamental difference between mesenchym and mesoblast, but that it is purely morphological, and that no genetic conclusions are to be based on its consideration. The mesoblast arises primitively from diverticula of the archenteron ; secondly, from paired mesoblastic mother-cells which lie near the blastopore, and give rise to the mesoblastic sacs which inclose the secondary ceelom; thirdly, in the Tunicata it arises directly from the lateral walls of the archenteron. The formation of the first two kinds of mesoblast is associated with the formation of a new secondary coelom; in the Tunicata, however, there is no secondary ccelom, but the primary, being narrowed not only by the peribranchial space, but also by mesenchymatous connective-tissue-cells, and by an inner mantle of cellulose (in some forms) must be regarded as a true pseudoceel.

In the third chapter the genetic relations of the Tunicate phylum are discussed, and the following table is given :—

Ascidian trunk

Ase. Social. Botryllide / _—— Polyclinide SE renee t {Somes

Didemnide

Asc. Simpl. / ase Doliolide Pyrosomatidee Anchinia D on OS | Salpide

Salpine trunk

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSOOPY, ETC.

629

With regard to the homologies of the most important organs of the Tunicata, the following useful table is given :—

| Ascidian

Appendicu- | larvee

lariz

Ascidise

Branchio-enteric cavity Digestive tract Ciliated arches

Ciliated pit

Pyrosoma | Doliolide | Salpida

Respiratory cavity Digestive tract Ciliated arches

Ciliated pit

— — Hypophysial — — — gland Brain Sensory | Ganglion (?) Ganglion Ganglion vesicle _— Eye j — Eye — Eye Otolith Otolith — Otolith Otolith a Caudal muscle iaesent material and Nerve-cord fear naaene Eleoblast Eleoblast Notochord derm-eells 2 Atrial Cloacal |Peribranchial|Peribranchial) Cloaca Cloaca ducts vesicle cavity and tube cloaca 2 Spiracula Egestive orifice Egestive Egestive orifice orifice —_- Long. Muscle-cells | Mesenchym-| Scattered mesenchym- muscles muscle muscle-cells Circular aa (?) (?) Circular muscular

muscle

bands

Dr. Seeliger regards the Vertebrata and Tunicata as being two separate branches derived from a common root-form; whatever be the real position of Amphioxus, it cannot, he thinks, be regarded as the bond of connection between the Vertebrata and the Tunicata. The stem-forms may have had close relationships to the segmented worms, and it is even possible that they have several common ances- tors; in such case the nerve-tube of the Tunicate larve might be the homologue of the ventral cord of worms. This view seems to be supported by the discoveries of Hatschek and Kowalevsky ; but it is to be noted that the gastrula of Ascidians is not completely homo- logous with the primitive form common to all the Metozoa, inasmuch as it contains the materials of three segments, derived by a double gemmation from the primitive one.

Ser. 2.—Vo1. V. 27

630 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

Genetic Cycle and Germination of Anchinia.*—Dr. J. Barrois re- cognizes in the life-cycle of Anchinia one sexual and two sterile forms ; in all these we may regard the bud as being primitively formed of an ectoderm and endoderm, the latter composed of cells of various kinds ; there soon appears an endodermal nucleus, around which groups of three different kinds of cells become arranged—these are nervous, genital, and “‘ disseminated.” In the proliferous stolon this endoderm forms a solid rod which is at first formed of cells of one kind only, but which very soon becomes differentiated. The endcdermic nucleus, becoming constricted, forms on the ventral surface a pharyngo- stomachal mass ; below is the nervous mass; behind, the genital and disseminated cells ; the first of all of these comes into relation with the outer world by the buccal and anal orifices; the pharyngeal mass divides directly into pharyngeal sac and a pericardium, the endostyle is not formed till later, when it arises as a small swelling of the pharyngeal sac. In the sexual form the nervous mass is continuous posteriorly with a large cord which passes between the cloaca and the esophagus, and terminates in a ganglion which is covered by the genital mass. In one sterile form the coil is formed by the constric- tion of a cylindrical nerve-tube, which extends along the whole length of the embryo, whose anterior part corresponds exactly to the entire nervous mass of the sexual form. It is very probable that this cord corresponds to the large dorsal nerve which, in the Appen- diculariz, connects the cephalic ganglion with the large swelling which is formed at the base of the tube. The anterior swelling is converted into a hypophysis, but it also gives rise to nervous parts of great importance.

The muscular layer divides into two bands, and then becomes broken up into six semicircles in just the same way as in Doliolum. The cloaca is the most important part which is formed by the ecto- derm. The genital mass and the disseminated cells form for a long time a mass which is placed posteriorly, and which in the sexual forms gives rise to two genital glands, and in the sterile becomes reduced to a few cells which are found in the neighbourhood of the visceral ganglion. The disseminated cells unite into a ventral plate which possibly represents the eleoblast. Especial attention is to be directed to three points in which the history of their development approximates Anchinia to the Appendicularie : these are—

1. The primitive constitution of the cloaca, the two short tubes being comparable to the respiratory orifices of the Appendicularie.

2. The presence of a nerve-tube along the whole length of the body, and its termination by cephalic and visceral enlargements.

3. The primitive presence of the anal orifice on the surface of the skin. The formation of the cloaca at the expense of the ecto- derm is a rare phenomenon.

Anchinia may, in a sense, be regarded as representing a Doliolum with six (instead of eight) bands; the stolon is extremely like that of Doliolum, but differs internally from that of any member of the

* Journ. Anat. et Physiol. (Robin), xxi. (1885) pp. 193-267 (4 pls.),

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 631

group of the Thaliacea, for there is but one cord, and that is solid, and is composed of endodermic cells; so far it resembles the cord rather of Ascidiz than of Thaliacea; at the same time this character is to be put against the precocious differentiation of the young bud, the cells of which are derived from the endodermic cord.

New Species of Simple Ascidians.*—M. L. Roule describes three new species of simple Ascidians from the shores of Provence. The first is most like the members of the genus Molgula, but is remark- able for having, as has Hugyra, only one genital gland ; the structure of its gill is like that of both the genera just mentioned, so that it appears to be necessary to form for it a sub-generic division of Molgula, to which the name of Eugyriopsis may be applied.

There is a new species of Microcosmos, most like M. vulgaris of Heller, but differing by its larger size, the colour of its tunic, and the form of its tentacles. It is called M. sabatierit. The other new Cynthiad is like Cynthia scutellata of Hiller, but is larger, has _ its siphons approximated instead of separated, and differs by other characters, among which is the fact that the genital glands are broken up into small parts, each of which has its own excretory ducts; it is of a fine red colour, and is to be called Cynthia corallina.

B. Polyzoa.

Structure and Development of Loxosoma.{—Mr. S. F. Harmer observed at Naples five species of Loxosoma, one of which, L. lepto- clini, is new ; it was not uncommon on the compound Ascidian Lepto- clinum maculosum. The term ventral is, in opposition to Caldwell, applied to the line of the body between the mouth and anus; the dorsal region is drawn out into a stalk, on which the calyx or body of the animal is carried; when, in his descriptions, the author speaks of a transverse section, he means one which passes in the plane of the stalk through the right and left side; a horizontal plane is one which is at right angles to the long axis.

In Lozosoma the buds become free as soon as they reach maturity, and this genus ditfers therefore from all other Polyzoa in never forming colonies. The cells of the ectoderm were best studied by a special use of nitrate of silver; the tissues are washed “in a solution of a neutral salt (KNO,), which gives no precipitate with nitrate of silver, the solution having the same specific gravity as sea-water” ; there was thus no precipitate of silver chloride; these cells were found to be large and polygonal, or sense-cells, bearing one or more fine, stiff, tactile hairs which project into the water, and gland-cells ; the last differ in character in different species. The foot-gland is either retained by the adult or found only in the bud; in some species it has wing-like lateral outgrowths. It seems to be composed of two distinct portions—the gland, which consists of a small number of granular nucleated cells arranged round a central lumen, and a “duct,” which is really an open groove.

* Comptes Rendus, c, (1885) pp. 1015-7. + Quart. Journ. Mier. Sci., xxv. (1885) pp. 261-338 ae ag ft.

632 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

Mr. Harmer considers that the true ganglion has been mistaken for part of the generative apparatus, and describes it as being dumb- bell-shaped and lying transversely across the intestine, as consisting mesially of a fibrous commissural portion and of two lateral ganglia, and as being altogether devoid of any central duct. The peripheral neryous system is best examined in living specimens, and the trans- parent L. crassicauda is a most favourable species for investigation ; it is described in detail. There is no striking objection to the idea that the posterior sense-organs are homologous with the “ osphradia” of Mollusca, but it is more probable that they are merely specialized sense-cells.

After describing briefly the alimentary and muscular systems, the author comes to the excretory organs, our knowledge of which is exceedingly incomplete ; as described by Mr. Harmer they are seen to differ markedly from those of the Brachiopoda, but to have the closest similarity to the head-kidney of many Trochospheres. Dr. Meyer’s as yet unpublished drawings of the head-kidneys of various Annelid larve present a striking resemblance to Loxosoma in the number of the excretory cells, in the relative size of the lumen in different parts of the organ, and in the mode of termination in a flame-cell, as well as in other points. The generative organs are next described, and are stated to be ‘ idiodinic.”

A careful account is given of the history of development, with numerous references to the illustrative figures, which must be seen if the account is to be fully understood; this much, however, may be here stated. The ova may be small, and be supplied with nutriment from the glandular epithelium of the brood-pouch, or large, when they take up the surrounding cells which play the part of a vitel- larium ; the blastopore appears to form the permanent anus, and a stomodceum is developed anteriorly ; the greater part of the mesoblast arises from two cells which are placed at the sides of the blastopore. The so-called dorsal organ is of epiblastic and not of hypoblastic origin, and is not a budding structure, but the supra-cesophageal ganglion. Between the mouth and anus two epiblastic invaginations appear, and, later on, fuse medianly; they form the deeper part of the vestibule, and, by the thickening of their floor, give rise to the subcesophageal ganglia; coming into contact with the “wings of the crescent-shaped brain,” they establish a complete circumcesophageal nerve-ring.

The Entoproctous Polyzoa, both larval and adult, are true Trochospheres, with a ventral flexure of the alimentary canal, no true body-cavity, and a pair of head-kidneys. The metamorphosis of the Ectoprocta is a process of budding; the Entoprocta have certain affinities with Actinotrocha, while the affinity of the Polyzoa to the Brachiopoda is more doubtful than to Phoronis. The nearest allies of the Entoproctous Polyzoa are the Trochosphere larve of Molluses and Cheetopods, and the adult Rotifera; the Entoprocta are the most archaic of the Polyzoa, but their relations to the rest are, as yet, obscure. :

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 633

Australian Bryozoa.*—In the new decade, which completes the first volume of the ‘ Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria, Professor P. H. MacGillivray continues his valuable contributions on the Polyzoa of Victoria. The present number deals with Retepora, a genus better represented in the southern hemisphere than in the northern. Twelve species are described and three varieties of the well-known Retepora monilifera MacG., and besides the figures of these, one plate is devoted to drawings of the opercula, which in Professor MacGillivray’s hands have proved of great value for specific determination.

The preface is dated 1883, and the paper having been written nearly two years, there is consequently some overlapping with this and Mr. Busk’s work on the ‘ Challenger’ Polyzoa.

Y. Brachiopoda.

Anatomy of Crania.t—In continuation of a previous paper,t{ M. Joubin describes further points in the anatomy of Crania.

The shell is formed of extremely fine calcareous fibres; it is traversed by perforations spreading out, in the upper valve, in arborescent ramifications, of which the final branches are attenuated filaments terminating on the external surface. In the ventral valve the perforations are only at the points where there are no muscular insertions. The mantle is composed of two portions—an interior and an exterior. There are three principal pairs of muscles, two of which are adductors; the less important muscles sustain the arms and perform other functions. The arms are not supported by any calca- reous loop. Respiration is not effected by any special organs, and there is no circulatory system. The nervous system, as in Lingula, is very poorly developed.

Arthropoda. a, Insecta.

Eye and Optic Tract of Insects.s—Dr. 8. J. Hickson, in the first portion of his paper, gives a detailed account of the eye and optic tract of Musca vomitoria, and afterwards discusses and attempts to clear up the differences between his results and those of other investigators.

The account of the eye of Musca is only intelligible when studied with the aid of the accompanying illustrations; in it the following new terms are used: the oplicon is the ganglionic swelling which is separated from the cerebral by a narrow constriction, which is, as Beyer has shown, the homologue of the optic nerve of other arthro- pods: the second swelling, which is separated from the opticon by a tract of fine nerve-fibrils, is called the epi-opticun ; while the third, or peri-opticon, is separated by a bundle of long optic nerve-fibrils. The term neurospongium is given to the fine meshwork of minute

* Prodromus of the Zool. of Victoria, decade x., 1885.

+ Comptes Rendus, ec. (1885) pp. 464-6.

t Ibid., xcix. (1884) pp. 985-7. See this Journal, ante, pp. 233-4, § Quart. Journ, Mier. Sci., xxv. (1885) pp. 215-51 (3 pls.).

634 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

fibrils, which are similar to those described by Gerlach in the mammalian brain and spinal cord. ; The comparative anatomy of these parts is thus summed up: “In the young Periplaneta the optic nerve-fibrils which leave the peri- opticon pass without decussating, to the ommateum (eye proper); in the adult Periplaneta there is a partial decussation, in Nepa there is no decussation, but the anastomosis is complicated by the presence of looped and transverse anastomoses. In Musca, the fibrils are split up into little cylindrical blocks of neurospongium, which I have called the elements of the peri-opticon ; in bees, wasps, and many Lepidoptera, the elements of the peri-opticon are long, slender, and close-set; in Aischna they have partially fused with one another ; and in Bombyx, Hristalis, and the Crustacea they have completely fused to form a complete and continuous ganglion, similar in every way to the opticon and epi-opticon.

Three series of pigment-cells are very constant throughout the Hexapoda; there are (1) a series of pigment-cells which insheath the cone and prevent extraneous rays of light from escaping; they may be called the cone pigment-cells. (2) In the outer region of the rhabdom there is a series of external pigment-cells, which have long processes passing between the retinule and elsewhere. (3) The name of internal pigment-cells is given to the series which usually rests upon the basilar membrane. This last varies considerably in thickness.

In the historical and critical portion of his paper, Dr. Hickson deals only with what has been published since 1879, the date of Grenacher’s great work. With regard to the view of Mr. Lowne that the retinule are not the nerve-end-cells at all, and that the true retina is situated behind the basilar membrane, the author remarks that not only does anatomy teach us that the optic nerve-fibrils end in the retinule, but morphology teaches us that they are homologous with the nerve-end-cells of other animals, while the few physiological experiments yet made show that they are eminently adapted for light- perceiving purposes. These considerations are clenched by Leydig’s discovery of a true retina-purple in the retinula.

The view of Ciaccio, Berger, and others, that the layer of retinulz and rhabdoms cannot be considered as the equivalent of the retina of other animals is accepted ; it is only part of the retina, or that which bears the nerve-end-cells, and corresponds functionally to the layer of rods and cones in the eyes of Vertebrates. We cannot compare layer for layer the different strata of eyes in different animals; all we can say is that in all animals with highly organized eyes, there are certain complicated nervous structures, between the nerve-end-cells and the brain, which have probably the function of elaborating and combining the sensations received by the end-cells. The author thinks that all the nerve-structure lying between the crystalline cone-layer and the optic nerve is analogous with the retina of other animals ; in other words, the retina of insects consists of the retinule, peri-opticon, epi-opticon, opticon, and all the intermediate nerve-tracts.

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 635

The best method of making sections through the eye of Musca vomitoria is to expose it to the fumes of 1 per cent. osmic acid solution for 40 minutes, then to wash for a few minutes in 60 per cent. spirit, and finally to harden in absolute alcohol. When the hardness of the chitin prevents the use of the automatic microtome, a Jung’s microtome with the razor set so as to give a long sweep at each stroke may be used. The best method of depigmenting the eye, is to expose the sections to the action of nitrous fumes ; for teasing the best solution is chloral hydrate.

Tracks of Insects resembling the Impressions of Plants.*—M. R. Zeiller describes the burrows made by Gryllotalpa vulgaris in the clay soil at the bottom of a little pool of water, that was sometimes nearly dry. These tracks, owing to their arrangement and the marks made on their surface by the insect in traversing its burrow, bear a striking resemblance to the impressions of certain fossil plants. They suggest a comparison with Phymatoderma liasicum and present at the same time an analogy to certain impressions of conifers belonging to the genus Brachyphyllum, notably B. Desnoycrsi Brgt. from the oolite.

Morphology of the Lepidoptera.;—Dr. A. Walter finds that the views of Savigny as to the morphology of the gnathites of the Lepi- doptera must now be definitely given up; the parts which he re-

arded as mandibles are the projecting angles of a labrum, and the plate which he regarded as the labrum is an epipharynx. True and functional mandibles in the form of toothed appendages are found only in some of the lower Micropteryginez, such as Aruncella, and Anderschella. True mandibles without denticulations are to be found in the higher Micropterygine, such as Micropteryx, Purpurella, and Semipurpurella. Various stages of reduction are to be observed in various forms, and it is possible that remnants of mandibles are to be made out in all the’ Microlepidoptera. There can be no doubt that the lower Micropteryginz exhibit the most primitive form of gnathites found among the Lepidoptera.

There are two maxillary palps, the outer of which forms the most primitive rudiments of a proboscis, while the inner forms a groove- like horny plate which affords a lateral support for the labium. The Lepidopterous proboscis is to be regarded as being primitively - derived from the outer palp of the maxilla; in the higher forms the inner palps are reduced.

In the lower Micropteryginz the labium has the free palps and typical ligula of lower insects, the latter being formed by the fusion of the inner palps into a short tubule, which is open externally; a short hypopharynx is to be detected on the soft inner or hinder wall of this ligula.

In the higher Micropteryginz the mandibles lose their teeth, and the maxillw the inner palp; the halves of the proboscis are applied to

* Bull. Soc. Geol. France, xii. p. 676. See transl. by Prof. J. F. James in Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., viii. (1885) pp. 49-52. + Jenaisch. Zeitschr. f. Naturwiss., xviii. (1885) pp. 751-807 (2 pls.).

636 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

one another to form the typical sucking tube, and the short organ is already capable of being rolled up; the labium is elongated, has no free outer palps, and the hypopharynx is still discernible at its base.

The author inclines to the view that the nearest relatives of the Lepidoptera are, among other insects, the Hymenoptera.

Number of Abdominal Segments in Lepidopterous Larve.*— Dr. A. 8. Packard finds that no caterpillars known to him have less than ten abdominal segments. The ninth segment, however, is liable to be much reduced in size and to more or less coalesce with the tenth or anal segment. The ninth segment is most rudimentary in the Sphinges. In the larval butterflies it is rather more distinct; whilst the tenth segment is, as in all caterpillars, represented by the supra-anal plate and anal legs.

In the Algerians, Zigzenide, and Bombycide (the latter especially), the ninth segment is very distinct. In Halesidota the ninth segment is quite long, forming an entire segment. In Datana it is longer than the supra-anal plate. In Limacodes scapula and P. pithecium there are no traces of legs; the number of abdominal segments appears to be ten. In the Noctuide the ninth segment is distinct. In the Geometers it is distinct above, but below is merged into the infra-anal plate. In the Pyralid caterpillars, as well as the Tortricids and Tineids, the ninth segment is longer and more distinct than in the higher families.

The Bombycide seem to be the oldest, most generalized group of Lepidoptera, and it is a question whether the Pyralids, Tortricids, and Tineids are not degenerate forms which have descended from the Noctuide and ultimately from the Bombycide; there are indica- tions that the Noctuide have descended from the Geometers. At any rate the primitive caterpillar had ten pairs of abdominal legs. The saw-fly larvee (Lophyrus) have eight pairs of abdominal legs, while the embryo honey-bee has ten pairs of temporary abdominal appendages.

Structure of the Halteres of Diptera.t—Mr. A. B. Lee contributes some further details to our knowledge of these organs, which were believed by Leydig to be auditory in function. It appears that there are two distinct organs contained in each of these structures: one an auditory organ, the other an organ of problematical function, which may be olfactory; the structural details, which are briefly mentioned, will no doubt be published by the author in an illustrated form.

Movement of Flies on Smooth Surfaces.;—Dr. J. E. Rombouts supports, as against the observations of Dewitz, his former conclusions on this subject already noticed in this Journal.§ It will be remem- bered that it was then established that flies attached themselves to smooth surfaces by the help of a liquid secretion from the feet; this liquid, however, is not sticky, but the attachment is brought about by capillary attraction; this conclusion is strengthened by another

* Amer. Natural., xix. (1885) pp. 307-8.

+ Arch. Sci. Phys. et Nat., xiii. (1885) pp. 1-3. t Zool. Anzeig., vii. (1884) pp. 619-23.

§ See this Journal, iy. (1884) p. 787.

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY,- ETC. 637

experiment described in the paper before us. Several flies are con- fined on to a glass plate by strips of paper, and the liquid that accu- mulates is sufficient to be perceptible to the naked eye; by the help of experiments with glass balls, detailed in the former paper, it was ascertained that the adhesive power of the liquid was less than that of water, and about equal to olive oil; hence capillary attraction is obviously the only force which could bring about the required result.

Circulation in Ephemera Larve.*—M. N. Creutzburg finds that in the larve of certain Ephemerida—contrary to the statements of Verloren—the vascular ampulla which supplies the caudal sete is in communication with the dorsal vessel, and not with the body-cavity ; this portion of the vascular system is, however, separated from the dorsal vessel by a pair of valves.

Macrotoma plumbea.t—Dr. A. Sommer gives a detailed account of this Podurid, a member of a group the anatomy of which has long required revision. Asin most insects the integument consists of three layers—the cuticle is transparent, thin, and flexible; the subjacent matrix varies considerably in thickness in different parts of the body, and itscells appear to be devoid of distinct boundaries ; the basal mem- brane is structureless.

The excretory organs are rounded in form and extend through the whole of the abdomen ; the concretions are dirty white with reflected, and pale green with transparent ight; they vary somewhat consider- ably in form and size, but generally exhibit a distinct concentric striation, like starch-granules; they are insoluble in water and alcohol, but are, when fresh, dissolved by acetic acid. The simplest muscles consist of a single muscular fibre; the muscles are not inserted directly but by a tendon formed by the cuticle; they have a finely granular perimysium, in which a number of small round nuclei are imbedded ; their substance exhibits transverse striation and appears to be well adapted for the study of this curious phenomenon.

The most interesting appendage of the body is the ventral tube ; the numerous cells found in it are elongated oviform in shape, are limited externally by a distinct membrane, and have a very finely granulated protoplasm. The cuticular tubules formed by the cells open to the exterior by rounded orifices, and it is clear that we have here to do with unicellular glands; their close connection with the muscles of the ventral tube, leads us to suppose that when the latter is put into function there is an evagination of the connected pouches, owing to the pressure of the secretion which flows out from the gland- cells. If the ventral tube really serves as an organ of attachment we may suppose that the secretion is a material which acts as an adhesive agent.

P After describing in detail the structure of the digestive tract, the author passes to the dorsal vessel and the blood ; the former is a tube which extends from the eighth abdominal segment into the thorax, and passes between the dorsal longitudinal muscles ; it is continued

* Zool. Anzeig., viil. (1885) pp. 246-5. + Zeitechr. f. Wiss. Zool., xli. (1885) pp. 683-718 (2 pls.).

638 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

forwards into an aorta; posteriorly it is attached by fine fibrils to the tergal region of the body; no posterior orifice was to be detected ; there are five pairs of ostia, and five pairs of alary muscles. The cardiac tube consists of a plexiform nucleated tissue, broken through at various points ; then follows a well-developed muscular layer which forms the chief part of the tube, and internally to it there is a delicate, hyaline, and structureless layer. The bloodis of a yellowish-red colour, and contains a fairly large number of blood-corpuscles. They have a clear, homogeneous ground-substance with dark refractive granules, and no investing membrane; they exhibit amceboid movements.

The author was unable to find any traces of a visceral nervous system or of nervi transversi; the absence of the latter may be asso- ciated with that of a tracheal system. Sensory sete are to be observed on the legs, palps, and labium and labrum.

The generative organs are carefully described, and there are some remarks on ecdysis; the author found that Gregarines, Cysticerci, and a number of Nematoid worms lived parasitically in Macrotoma.

B. Myriopoda.

Latzel’s Myriopods of Austria.*—The first volume of Dr. R. Latzel’s work dealt with the Chilopoda, while the second includes the Symphyla, Pauropoda, and Diplopoda. Nine years of close attention to the study of the Myriopods have enabled Dr. Latzel not merely to complete a monograph of the species inhabiting his native country, but to complete it in such a manner that he has written a book which must be useful to the student of the Myriopoda of any country. Minute descriptions of some 170 species are given, and also tables which make it a matter of ease to determine the genus of any Myriopod. :

Where possible, full descriptions are given of the young stages of each species, and the results of all recent researches into the minute anatomy of the Myriopods are embodied. Embryology, indeed, has not received a very large share of attention, but references are given to all writings on the subject. Dr. Latzel differs from some American authorities in looking on Scolopendrella as a true Myriopod, and places its order Symphyla as intermediate between the Chilopoda and the Pauropoda. Dr. Latzel agrees with Menge in considering those organs which Ryder has described as trachee in Scolopendrella, as being merely chitinous supports for muscle-attachment. These are the same organs which Wood-Mason considers to be of the nature of segmental organs.

Dr. Latzel looks on Peripatus as forming an order equivalent to other orders, the Chilopoda, the Symphyla, and the Diplopoda.

A most useful bibliography, brought down to the date of publica- tion, is comprised in the work. f

* Latzel, K., ‘Die Myriopoden der Oesterreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie,’ 2te Halfte, xii. and 413 pp. and 16 pls., 8vo., Vienna, 1884. + See Nature, xxxi. (1885) p. 526,

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 639

§. Arachnida.

New Hypothesis as tothe Relationship of the Lung-book of Scorpio to the Gill-book of Limulus.*—Prof. E. Ray Lankester with- draws his suggestion that by the enlargement of the hollow stigmata connected with the thoracobranchial muscles of an ancestral scorpion the branchigerous appendage might come to lie in the pit of the tendon of the muscle, and that eventually the hollow might inclose it, and replaces it by a more simple explanation. He was led to give up his earlier view by finding that the veno-pericardiac muscle attached to the apex of each lung-sinus in Scorpio had no relation to the thoraco-branchial muscles of Limulus, but was represented in it by exactly similar veno-pericardiac muscles,

In Limulus, as in Scorpio, there is on each side of the sternal surface a great blood-sinus in free communication with the lamelli- gerous organs. If we suppose the mesosomatic appendages in the Scorpion branch of the family to grow relatively smaller and smaller, and to be purely respiratory in function, and to be aerial rather than aquatic ; we have only further to imagine the four hinder pairs to have taken on in the embryonic condition a very common trick of growth, viz. an inward growth of invagination, to have the exact condition of the modern scorpion’s lung-book.

The best known example of such inward growth is seen in the hydatid-stage of Tcenia solium, and the introversion is probably due to external pressure. Now, it is to be borne in mind that in the modern scorpion development goes on within the ovary; the pressure of the ovarian tunic must be considerable, and is at any rate a possible cause of the invagination.

Coxal Glands of Mygale.t—Dr. P. Pelsencer describes the coxal glands in a large South American Mygale (Theraphosa). The two glands, which are quite separate, are placed on each side of the cepha- lothorax, at the side of the entosternite (enthodére of Dugés) between the lower plate and the upward prolongations of it, to which latter they are intimately related in position, size, and form.

As surmised by Prof. Lankester, this gland is not a simple ovoid glandular body, as in Scorpio, but is furnished with lobes correspond- ing to the cox of the cephalothoracic appendages, as in Limulus. In addit:on to these four coxal prolongations, the gland has two internal projections near its middle third, corresponding to two slight excava- tions of the entosternite, between its lower plate and its upper pro- longations. The colour of the gland is uniform, a brownish-yellow, not unlike that of the stomach and its lateral diverticula. Its appearance is coarsely cellular, showing distinctly the groups of cells of which it is made up. No efferent duct, either passing to the exterior, or to any internal organ, was seen. The gland in Mygale, like that of the adult Limulus and Scorpio, is therefore a closed gland.

* (Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xxv. (1885) pp. 339-42, + Proc. Zool. Soc, Lond., 1885, pp. 3-6 (1 pl.).

640 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

Anatomy of Spiders.*—Dr. F. Dahl reviews certain statements of Bertkau with respect to the anatomy of spiders. This observer has mentioned that salivary glands have not been figured; Dahl calls attention to the fact that he has himself observed and figured them in Epeira cornuta, in the males of which species they are far better developed than in the females; this may be accounted for by the fact that the mature male takes little or no nourishment while the female after depositing her eggs spins a web and catches and devours insects. The paper contains rectifications of a few other statements made by Bertkau which are believed by Dahl to be erroneous.

Hibernation and Winter Habits of Spiders.j—The Rev. Dr. McCook describes some observations on this subject. In the case of Theridion tepedariorum it would seem that the hibernation is not accompanied with a great degree of torpidity ; that the spiders pre- serve their activity and spinning habit while exposed to cold ranging from freezing point to zero (Fahr.); that after long and severe exposure, the recovery of complete activity when they are brought into a warm temperature is very rapid, almost immediate ; and that on the return of spring, even after a prolonged and severe winter, they at once resume their habits.

In all the specimens experimented on the abdomens were full, indicating perfect health. Other spiders hung upon their webs with shrivelled abdomens, quite dead; but the author could not determine that they perished by the cold. There appeared to be no growth during hibernation. The same facts hold good as to the winter habits of orb-weayers. The young survive in the cocoons provided by maternal instinct. But early in the spring many adults of both sexes are found, who have also safely weathered the cold months. Many specimens of Hpeira vulgaris shelter within a thick tubular or arched screen, open at both ends, which is bent in the angles of woodwork, or beneath an irregular rectangular silken patch stretched across a corner. Many others burrow behind cocoons, and are quite covered up by the thick flossy fibre of which these are composed. Examples of EH. strix were found blanketed in precisely the same way during the winter months.

e. Crustacea.

Urinary Organs of Amphipoda,t—Mr. W. Baldwin Spencer finds that little is stated in the text-books as to the presence in certain Crustacea of small but well-defined appendages which open into the posterior part of the alimentary canal; the best method of examining these tubes is to cut sections through the whole of the body, when the course that they take and their relation to the neighbouring organs can be easily made out.

The author has carefully investigated the tubes of Talitrus locusta ; the walls were found to be cellular in nature, and within these were

* Zool. Anzeig., viii. (1885) pp. 241-3. + Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1885, pp. 102-4. t Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xxv. (1885) pp. 183-92 (1 pl.).

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 641

very definite concretions, but in no case could any sign of a concretion be detected within or between the cells. The presence of these bodies, which are extremely minute, may be associated with the pro- cess of ecdysis ; phosphoric acid was found in them, whereas Nibeski found carbonate of lime in Orchestia cavimana. We must wait for a knowledge of their developmental history before we can say definitely whether or no they are homologous with the Malpighian tubes of the Tracheata.

Development of the Egg and Formation of the Primitive Layers in Cuma Rathkii*—Dr. H. Blanc’s researches on this subject, of which mention has already been made,t} are now published in eatenso.

Development of Cyclops.t{—The development of Cyclops has been studied by a great many authors, but little is known concerning the origin of the body-cavity and most of the internal organs. M. F. Urbanovies has addressed himself to solve these questions, and has arrived at the following results :—

A dorsal organ is formed as in the Isopoda, which is composed of a single layer of cylindrical cells. The body-cavity is formed by paired excavations of a mesoblast band; each pair of cavities corre- sponds to a segment and the dissepiments dividing them from each other only disappear very late; the dorsal and ventral mesenteries persist throughout life; the dorsal mesentery contains a space which is a remnant of the blastoccel and plays an important part in the circulation in the absence of a heart. It is obvious that these facts indicate a far closer similarity with the Tracheata and Annelida than is admitted by Balfour in his ‘ Comparative Embryology.’

Anatomy of the Cirripedia.s—Dr. P. P. C. Hoek has issued a supplementary memoir on the Cirripedes of the “ Challenger,” which, as we have already stated, || he promised to prepare.

The complementary male of Scalpellum has never been described since the time of Darwin’s first notice of it ; Dr. Hoek found this male in 19 out of 41 new species, and always at about the same place, that is, a little above the musculus adductor scutorum; in 18 of the species the testes were mature ; in thirteen cases the male was more degenerated than in S. vulgare. The 24 forms whose males are now known have either a special capitulum and a stalk, as in three species; or there is no division of the body, but there are rudi- mentary shell-valves, as in eight species; or there is no division of the body and no valves, as in thirteen species. The first of these are littoral in habitat; the second live at depths of at least 700 fathoms ; and the third (with three exceptions) live at depths greater than 1000 fathoms. Two of the three exceptions belong to the arctic fauna, where, as is now well known, deep-sea forms of other latitudes are found living at lesser depths.

* Rec. Zool. Suisse, ii. (1885) pp. 253-75 (1 pl.).

¢ See this Journal, ante, p. 238.

t Zool. Anzeig., vii. (1884) pp. 615-9.

§ Tijdschr. Nederl. Dierk. Vereen., vi. (1882-5) pp. 64-142 (6 pls.). \| See this Journal, iv, (1884) p. 891.

642 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

After describing the Cypris-larval forms, the author passes to the male of Scalpellum regium, where the microscopic body consists of an elongated sac, closed on all sides; there is only a very small cleft between the two scuta; the tentacles are the only appendages which still show their primitive form; the feet are functionless and straight, and the gnathites have disappeared. In young males the cement-apparatus is well developed, but in mature forms it is not so distinct; the enteron is aborted and functionless, and no signs of circulatory or respiratory organs are to be detected. The nervous system consists of arather small cerebral ganglion, a comparatively feeble esophageal ring, and a large ventral ganglion; the peripheral nerves are not well developed, and there do not seem to be any eyes, or other sensory organs. The generative system is the only one which is well developed, and of it only the male organs; even these are much more concentrated than in ordinary hermaphrodite Cirripeds; there is only one testis, which has the form of a compressed gland, and the seminal vesicle is single, instead of being double. In all these points the small males of other deep-sea species agree with S. regium.

In the genus Scalpellum Dr. Hoek distinguishes three stages of sexual differentiation.

J. True hermaphrodite species, all members of which have both female and male genital products; they are probably self-fecun- dating. Ex. S. balanoides.

II. Species with large hermaphrodite members, and small males ; the latter may (S. villosum), or may not (S. vulgare) have a stalk, a mouth and a stomach.

III. Species with the sexes separate; the females large, the males small, and, probably, short-lived; e. g. S. regium.

The Cirripedes are rich in organs of an unknown, or at least problematical function, and those first discussed are the “‘ Segmental organs”; these were regarded by Darwin as being sensory in func- tion, but Hoek ascribes to them the duty of excretory organs: he is supported in this view by the presence of muscular fibres connected with the numerous lacune, similar to those seen by Grobben in the region of the antennary gland of the Decapoda.

The cement-glands are next discussed ; and then the “ true ovaries ” of Darwin, which Hoek looks upon as having a function in relation to the digestive tract, though it is clear that they are not salivary glands; they probably approximate to pancreatic or hepatic cells.

The eye of a Cirriped was first seen by Leidy, who described the two small lateral eyes of Balanus ; Dr. Hoek describes the eye of Lepas, and points out that there are certain points of resemblance to what Leydig has described in insects.

The paper concludes with an account of the female generative organs; the apparatus which is found at the end of the oviduct possibly represents a second segmental organ; the sac is regarded as representing the infundibulum of the primitive segmental organ, and it is no objection against this homology that it serves for the

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETO. 643

evacuation of genital products, or that its cells, in place of being excretory, have the function of providing a cementing mass for the ova.

Embryology of Balanus.*—According to M. N. Nassonow the ovum divides vertically into two sub-equal segments, of which the anterior forms the later ectoderm, whilst from the posterior and granular segment is exclusively derived entoderm and mesoderm. An amphigastrula is formed, the blastopore closes, and the entoderm divides, beginning ventrally, to form a symmetrical plate of mesoderm. The chief part of the mesoderm goes to form the three pairs of ventral projections which are the rudiments of the limbs of the nauplius, and does not take any share in the formation of the muscular system. The anus is formed at the spot where the blastopore originally occurred.

Vermes.

Oogenesis and Spermatogenesis in Branchiobdella.tj—Dr. W. Voigt finds that the reproductive organs of Branchiobdella are formed on the type of the Oligocheta; the two ovaries are in the eighth segment, and, even in living forms, are distinguishable by their whitish coloration; each consists of a compact mass of cells attached to the septum by a muscular stalk; the testes are found in the sixth segment, but their stalk of attachment is not provided with muscular tissue. During its development the cells of the ovary exhibit great powers of multiplication; the ova derive their nourishment from a pair of vascular loops which extend from the dorsal to the ventral trunk.

in treating of spermatogenesis, the author makes use of the terminology of La Valette St. George, who recognizes five stages—those of the sexual cells, spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids, and spermatosomata. What Mr. Blomfield called the blastophor is here called the cytophor. The sexual cells give rise to spermatogonia in the ordinary way, and by indirect division of the latter to spermato- germs. The author has been able to observe in both testes and ovaries degenerated cells, the cause of which is often due to the taking in of a large quantity of fluid.

New Parasitic Leech.}—Dr. J. Leidy describes a new parasitic leech infesting the mouth of the so-called Colorado pike (Ptychochilus lucivs). From its conspicuous gland-like organs and habit, Dr. Leidy proposes to name it Adenobdella oricola.

Archenchytreus Mobii.§—The structure of this new species is briefly described by M. W. Michaelsen. The worm has about sixty sete-bearing segments, and the sete are aggregated in bundles of three to five. The testes are developed on the mesentery, separating segments 10 and 11, the ovaries on the succeeding mesentery. The

* Zool. Anzeig., viii. (1885) pp. 193-5. ¢ Arbeit. Zool. Zoot. Inst. Wirzburg, vii. (1885) pp. 300-68 (3 pls.). $ Science, v. (1885) pp. 434-5 (1 fig.). § Zool. Anzeig., viii. (1885) pp. 237-9.

644 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO

vasa deferentia open on to segment 12; the oviducts on to segment 13. The spermathece are in segments 4 and 5; each is furnished with a pair of diverticula. During sexual maturity the spermathece com- municate with the lumen of the intestine; in the neighbourhood of the spermathecal apertures are peculiar aggregations of cells con- nected with nerves and apparently sensory ; the buccal cavity contains a projecting process of the mucous membrane, similar to what has been described by Vejdovsky in Anacheta bohemica ; it appears, how- ever not to be a gustatory organ but a sucker.

Nervous System of Polychetous Annelids.*—M. G. Pruvot finds that the nervous system of Annelids is always, even when it is more deeply situated, continuous with the hypodermis by at least part of the surface of its ganglia; it is always composed of a cortical sub- stance which encloses nerve-cells in a stroma of anastomosing fibres, and of a medullary substance which consists of peripheral nerve-cells in a central dotted substance; this last is to be regarded as the true centre, and all the nerves really arise from it. The medullary sub- stance forms four longitudinal trunks in the ventral chain, and of these the two external do not communicate directly with one another, but only with the two internal.

The ganglia which are sometimes found on the cesophageal con- nectives are only the first ventral ganglia which have ascended, and have lost their transverse commissure. ‘The stomatogastric has some- times a double (cerebral and sub-cesophageal), sometimes only sub- cesophageal or a cerebral origin; when well developed it may, as in the Euniceide, reveal the characters of the general nervous system, by forming a small ventral ganglionic chain, and an cesophageal collar ; or, as in the Nepthydez and Phyllodoceide its elongated roots may terminate in a small peri-proboscideal ring formed by a large number of small similar ganglia.

In each segment the pedal nerve arises from the two ventral cords by two roots; it follows the integument for the whole of its course, and divides into two branches, which again divide into two trunks for the setigerous bulb and the pedal cirrus. AIl the appendages of the somites are to be regarded as more or less modified feet; the author points out the differences which are to be found in different appendages of various parts of the antenne, especially with regard to their nervous supply. As the investigation of this necessitates the destruc- tion of the animal, he points out that palpi may always be dis- tinguished from antenne by their insertion in the ventral surface of the body, and by their form or size.

Larval forms of Spirorbis borealis.;—Mr. J. W. Fewkes gives a detailed description of the larval forms of Spirorbis borealis Dandin.

The ova are in bead-like strings, composed of from one to four rows with ten to fifteen or more eggs each. The later stages in the segmentation of the egg resemble those of other chaetopod eggs: the younger stages were not found.

* Arch. Zool. Exper. et Gén., iii. (1885) pp. 211-336 (6 pls.). + Amer. Natural., xix. (1885) pp. 247-57 (2 pls.).

ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 645

The larve described differ in some particulars from those of S. spirillum Gould, described by A. Agassiz, and even more widely from the young of S. spirillum, described by Pagenstecher;