157 



" Proceedings of the Watford Natural His- 



tory Society" ... 



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In exchange. 



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" Science Gossip " 



" Annals of Natural History " Purchased. 



" British Desmids," concluding part ... ... „ 



The Secretary read the following note from Col. O'Hara, accompanying a 

 photograph of a worm found in a preparation of the poison of Bungarus : — 

 " Dear Sir, — In looking over some slides of snake poison, which I pre- 

 pared in India, I find in one, in the clear poison of Bungarus arcuatus, or 

 ceruleus, a parasitic worm, almost invisible by transmitted light. As it is a 

 curious locality to choose for one's habitat, I send you a photo of it, by 

 polarized light, which may interest the members of the Q. M. C. I send it 

 unmounted." 



The President remarked that it was certainly a very singular habitat for 

 a parasite, because the Bungarus was well known as one of the most 

 dangerous and poisonous of the Indian snakes, from 2,000 to 3,000 persons 

 annually being killed by it. 



Mr. H. M. J. Underbill gave a description of the anatomy of Spiders, 

 illustrating the subject by means of diagrams, and numerous mounted pre- 

 parations and sections exhibited under the microscopes provided for the 

 purpose in the room. 



Mr. B. T. Lowne regretted that he had unfortunately arrived too late to 

 hear the whole of Mr. Underbill's paper, but with regard to the latter portion 

 he should be very glad to have some further information, and should 

 specially like to hear a little more in detail about the eyes. To mention one 

 point, he should like to know whether Mr. Underhill had observed a distinct 

 line of fibrous tissue separating the upper layer of cells from the layer of 

 cells lying below ? He had himself paid some attention to these subjects, 

 and had found the layers so separated in S alliens, but in some others it was 

 absent. His own view was that this layer was a connective tissue layer 

 separating the optic from the nervous portion of the eye. 



Prof. C. Stewart said that Mr. Underhill had brought the views which he 

 held so clearly and so fully before them that it was hardly necessary to 

 supplement what be had said. In speaking, however, of the heart, he seemed 

 to have had some difficulty in making out the valves, and, therefore, of ex- 

 plaining their action. He should himself have thought that they were the 

 same as those of ordinary insects, and that their structure was as usually 

 described in the text books, the organ consisting, in fact, of four chambers 

 communicating with each other, before and behind, provided with valves. It 

 was not so easy to see their action in all insects, but in the Ephemera they 

 were seen very clearly. With the binocular microscope especially, an 

 observer could see through the tissues and clearly watch the action of the 

 pair of valves at each end, two of which guarded the orifice in front and two 

 the orifice behind. 



The President said he also had been struck with the observations of Mr. 

 Underbill about the heart on account of the difficulty which he seemed to 

 have met with in connection with the matter, and because his remarks ap- 



