ZOOLOGY. 303 



C. S. Minot. He finds that these worms (Turbellaria) are 

 much more highly organized than is usually supposed. It 

 has been frequently stated that some or all parts of these 

 worms are formed by a protoplasmic substance, and not of 

 cells, and a relationship with the Infusoria has therefore 

 been supposed to exist. Minot finds, however, that all the 

 tissues in the forms he studied are composed of cells, as had 

 been stated previously by several observers. Minot finds 

 that the parenchym, which about a year ago was not sup- 

 posed to be cellular, is, in the twenty different species lie 

 studied, " mainly composed of ramified stellate cells, whose 

 processes intertwine and unite adjacent cells." These worms 

 are hermaphroditic, and Minot describes the egg-food stock 

 or yolk -gland which he has discovered in the flat worms. 

 This gland "produces cells, which remain alive, and pass 

 down a separate duct that ultimately joins the oviduct. 

 The cells are then thrown together with an egg -cell, and 

 the whole cluster of cells is covered over by a shell. . . . 

 The egg as laid consists of the egg proper and the food-cells 

 which are used up to nourish the egg as it grows. This 

 curious economy is unknown outside of the Plathelminths." 

 Minot unites the Trematode (flukes) and Cestode worms 

 (tape -worms) into one group, under the name of Vagi- 

 niferce. In its more extended form the paper is published, 

 with five excellent plates, in Semper's "Arbeiten aus dem 

 Zoologisch-Zootomischen Institut in Wurzburo-," an abstract 

 appearing in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natu- 

 ral History. 



The anatomy of a singular worm {Phascolion strombi) is 

 figured and described by Theel in the Swedish Transac- 

 tions. 



Mr. H. N. Moseley, naturalist on board the Challenger dur- 

 ing her three years' cruise, has given an account of two new 

 and remarkable species of deep-sea Ascidians. One of them, 

 Hybythius calycodes, was brought up from the North Pacific 

 from a depth of 2900 fathoms. It is stalked and cup-shaped, 

 and is believed to be allied to Boltenia. It differs from that 

 genus, however, in possessing a series of cartilaginous plates 

 symmetrically developed in the soft test. The second species, 

 Octanemas bythius, was brought up from a depth of 1070 

 fathoms. It is star-shaped, with eight rays. The gill sac is 



