44 



He had observed some cases where the female had been 

 unable to extrude the ova at the proper time. He had noticed 

 this in one instance of a Callidbia constricta : he found some 

 large females containing, instead of a single ovum, four or 

 five, in various stages of growth, several of these showing 

 the mastax already dev^eloped. ISTow, ordinary segmentation 

 even does not occur till several hours after extrusion of the 

 ovum, but in this instance a most remarkable case it had 

 so far adv^anced that the organs bei^ran to be visible. It 

 was probably due to some pathogenic condition something 

 had happened which had prevented the female from extruding 

 the ova at the proper time. It was a most interesting point 

 that species of a genus usually oviparous should have developed 

 the faculty of bringing forth young alive. The egg-laying 

 faculty was of course due to the fact that it was desirable 

 for the species to survive desiccation. As regards the males of 

 bdelloid rotifers, these had not yet been found, and, he thought, 

 never would be found. He thought the Club should congratulate 

 Mr. Murray on his safe return from a very dangerous expedition, 

 and that they might congratulate themselves on having listened 

 to so interesting a lecture. 



Mr. Murray, replying, said that the lichen-equivalent sug- 

 gestion had been made before. The material had been submitted 

 to a professor of botany, who was examining it, but could not 

 yet express an opinion. On the under-surface of the sheets there 

 was almost always a great number of mixed algae. 



Mr. C. F. Kousselet, F.R.M.S., after expressing his appreciation 

 of Mr. Murray's lecture, said it was very remarkable iov Hydatina 

 senta to be found in the Antarctic. He was interested to hear 

 that it could stand freezing. Among the material brought back 

 he had found, besides bdelloids, specimens of Flosculm'ia ornatcv 

 and Melicerta ringens. He believed that Mr. Murray was the 

 first to investigate the pond-life of the Antarctic. 



The President, in moving that a very hearty vote of thanks be 

 accorded to Mr. Murray, said that it was a great privilege for 

 the Club to hear papers of this kind. The facts they had heard 

 as to the life of organisms in this region were most extraordinary. 

 It would be interesting to ascertain the extremes of temperature 

 that these organisms could stand. The thanks of the Club were 

 also due to Mr. Rousselet for mounting the specimens, and to 



