500 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



which is not stated. The genera] structure is described with especial 

 attention to the gonads. 



Skin of Trematodes.* — -N. Maclaren has made a fresh study of a 

 Subject thai has been a a;ood deal diseussed. His view of what OCCUTS 

 is as follows. The glandular cells o\' the original epidermis sink through 

 the basal membrane and beneath the muscular layer. Their secretion, 

 along with a shedding o( the ecto-parenchyma, leads to a sloughing and 

 loss of the original epidermis. The secretory process may result in layers, 

 and the innermost layer may form the actual skin of the adult, while the 

 other layers, along with the remains of the original epidermis, form a 



protective envelope as long as the Trematode lies in the cyst, and are left 

 behind when it leaves the cyst. Most or all of the glandular cells lose 

 their efferent ducts after the definitive sheath is Formed. 



Notes on Trematodes.f — L. Cohn describes Hoploderma mesocalium 



g. et sp. u. from the small intestine o( Draco volans. it is related to 

 Dicrocalium, but the gonads extend further forwards. He has also 

 found Amphistomum dolichocotyU sp. n. in the rectum of Herpetodryas 

 fuscus. It is related to Diplodiscus subctovatus of the frog. 



The author has studied the kaurer-eanal and finds that it sometimes 

 serves, as in Liolope copulans, for copulation. 



New Distomum from Sawfish Shark.} — S. J. Johnston describes 

 Distomum pristiophori sp. n., from the body-cavity of Pristiophorus 



cirratus. It has an elongated body, -_'."> mm. by r> mm. in breadth, and a 

 very extensible neck, listening itself by the ventral sucker, it stretches 

 out its neck for more than an inch. Longer than the body itself. The 

 most characteristic features of this new fluke are its size, the character 

 and position of the suckers, the folded but nnbranched intestine, the 

 ovoid shape of the ovary and testis and their situation, the great Length 

 of the uterus, the grape-like vitelline glands, and the well-developed 

 excretory system. The simple nature oi the intestine, the absence of 

 hooks or lobes from the suckers, the almost total obliteration of the 

 oesophagus, and the absence of a retractile telescopic tail-part indicate a 

 position in Dujardin's subgenus Brachylaimus, not far from D. mliporium. 



Incertae Sedis. 



Correct Name of Genus Phoronis.§- -Fr. Poche points out that 

 while Strethill Wright used the term Phoronis in 1856, Johannes 

 Midler had described Actinotrocha branchiata in 1846. Although Midler 

 only described the larval form, his name Actinotroc/ut should prevail, 

 and the family should be called Actinotrochida\ What difference it 

 makes we fail to see. 



New Species of Alcyonidium.||--L. Calvet describes Alcyonidium 



brum' sp. n., collected by Mr. W. S. Bruce from 7-8 fathoms off the 

 Island of Kolguer to the north o( Russia. The colony is like a little 



* Zool. Anzoiir, xxvi. (190;V) pp. 516-24 (G lie*). 



t Oentralbl. Bakt Parasitenkunde, l" AI>t.. xxxiv. (1903) pp. ;'>S-42 (4 figs.). 



J Proc. Linn. Boo. N.S.W., xxvii. (1902) pp. 326-80(1 pi.). 



§ Zool. Anseig., xxvi. (1903) pp. 4t'.t>-7. 



|| Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xxviii. (1903) pp. 33-G (4 figs.). 



