146 Zoology 



Mayer states that death from high temperature may be caused by acidosis due 

 to the accumulations of H2CO3 in the tissues at a rate faster than it can be 

 eliminated. Winterstein's heat-asphyxiation theory is not supported. 



Mayer in another paper shows that in Cassiopea the rate of nerve-conduction 

 is highest in slightly concentrated sea-water. In alkaline sea-water the rate of 

 nerve-conduction is normal for a wide range of alkalinity, but at 6.7 PH the rate 

 begins to decline and falls off rapidly with decided muscular depression in even 

 slightly acid sea-water. The rate of nerve-conduction appears to be dependent 

 upon the concentration of the cations of sodium, calcium, potassium, and mag- 

 nesium. Instances are cited in which the electrical conductivity of the solution 

 surrounding the nerve is diminished while the rate of nerve-conduction is increased. 



Gary studies the respiration of the Alcyonaria of the Florida reefs and finds that 

 there appears to be no definite relation between the death temperature and the 

 rate of oxygen consumption and thus asphyxiation is not the primary cause of 

 death at high temperatures. 



S. C. Ball remained for about three weeks upon Rebecca Shoal lighthouse 

 which is erected on a submerged shoal 12 miles from Tortugas, the nearest land. 

 He shows that mosquitoes, house flies and other insects are carried by winds at 

 least 95 miles from Cuba, or at least 24 miles from the Florida Keys to Rebecca 

 Shoal lighthouse. 



McClendon finds that over reef flats in the Tropics numerous plants and 

 animals having symbiotic algae cause the oxygen content of the sea-water to rise in 

 sunlight, thus increasing the alkalinity of the water. The oxygen concentration 

 falls during the night and rises to a maximum in the afternoon. He also shows 

 that in Cassiopea animal oxidation is about doubled with 10 rise in temperature 

 between about 20 and 30 C., but if deprived of oxygen the animal can remain for 

 at least 7 hours without movement and without measurable consumption of oxygen. 

 The results of many other interesting physiological experiments are given in the 

 paper. McClendon concludes that the surface water of the oceans of the whole 

 world is supersaturated in respect to calcite, and thus CaCO3 is precipitated. 



The ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites in Tortugas sea-water are less than one- 

 tenth the amount of these substances found in water from the North Sea, and this 

 may account for the relative absence of seaweeds in the Tropical ocean. 



No. 281. Papers from the Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution of Washington. Vol. XIII. Octavo, 128 pages, 19 plates, 

 3 text figs. Published 1919. 

 This book contains the following papers, not sold separately: 



SPEIDEL, CARL CASKEY. Gland Cells of Internal Secretion in the Spinal Cord of 

 the Skates. 31 pages, 9 plates. 



DREW, OILMAN A. The Structure and Ejaculation of the Spermatophores of 

 Octopus americana. 14 pages, 3 plates. 



CLARK, HUBERT LYMAN. The Distribution of the Littoral Echinoderms of the West 

 Indies. 25 pages, 3 plates. 



HARVEY, E. NEWTON. Further Studies on the Chemistry of Light Production in 

 Luminous Organisms. 35 pages. 



GUDCER, E. W. The Ovary of Felichthys felis, the Gait -Topsail Catfish: Its Struc- 

 ture and Function. 17 pages, 4 plates. 



C. C. Speidel describes the histological structure of certain large gland cells 

 of internal secretion which are found by the side of the electrical apparatus in 

 the tail of the skate. 



G. A. Drew figures the elaborate spermatophores of Octopus and describes their 

 functions, basing his paper upon observations made at Montego Bay, Jamaica, 

 in 1912. 



H. L. Clark presents interesting tables showing the geographical distribution 

 of littoral Echinoderms over the Bermuda, Bahama, and Florida-West Indian 

 regions, the United States coast north of Florida, Brazil, and the Indo-Pacific 

 region. The fauna of Bermuda was derived recently from the West Indies, that 

 of Tobago has a Brazilian coast element. Of the 55 genera of West Indian 

 echinoderms, only 25 occur in the Mediterranean. Colored figures of 4 species of 

 brittle stars from Tobago are given in the three plates. 



E. N. Harvey shows that when Cypridina luciferin is oxidized no fundamental 

 splitting of the molecule occurs and then the reaction may be reversed. Dilute 



