232 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Investigations of certain of the glands in earthworms 

 have been recorded by Stephenson and Prashad, " The Calci- 

 ferous Glands of Earthworms " (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. lii, 

 April 1 91 9), and Stephenson and Ram, "The Prostate Glands 

 of the Earthworms of the Family Megascolecidae " (ibid., April 

 1 91 9). The calciferous glands are shown to be foldings of the 

 oesophageal epithelium, although in extreme cases they may 

 become sacs with a duct. Their epithelium is in all cases con- 

 tinuous with that of the oesophagus, and the differences in 

 form are due to differences in complexity of folding. They 

 are then not mesodermal, but entodermal, in origin. Tubular 

 or lobate prostate glands at the termination of the sperm ducts 

 are common in the family, and typical species have been 

 examined by the authors. The glandular cells disintegrate to 

 give rise to a granular secretion, and are regenerated by the 

 formation of new cells at the periphery of the gland. The 

 glands themselves are stated to be of mesodermal origin, and 

 in early stages their cells resemble the chromophil cells of the 

 pharyngeal mass. 



Other papers include : 



Chandler, "On a Species of Hedruris occurring Commonly in the Western Newt, 

 Notophthalmus iorosus (Journ. Parasit., vol. v, March 1919) ; Kanda, " On the 

 Reversibility of the Heliotropism of Arenicola Larvx by Chemicals " (Biol. Bull., 

 vol. xxxvi, March 1919) ; Osborn, " Observations on Microcephalus ovatus, sp. 

 nov., from the Crayfish and Black Bass of Lake Chautauqua, N.Y." {Journ. 

 Parasit., vol. v, March 1919) ; Pratt, "A New Cystocercus Cercaria" {ibid., 

 March 1919) ; Ransom and Foster, "Recent Discoveries Concerning the Life 

 History of Ascaris lumbricoides " (ibid., March 1919) ; Yoshida, " On the Develop- 

 ment of Ascaris lumbricoides" (ibid., March 1919) ; Crozier, On the Use of the 

 Foot in Some Molluscs" (Journ. Exper. Zool., vol. xxvii, Jan. 1919) ; Stark, 

 "An Hereditary Tumour" (ibid., Feb. 1919), a study of a sex-linked tumour 

 occurring in the larvae of one-half of the males of the fruit-fly (Dros&fihila), and 

 causing the death of the same ; Thomson and Snyder, " The Question of the 

 Phylogenetic Origin of Termite Castes" (Biol. Bull., vol. xxxvi, Feb. 1919). 



Vertebrata. — In " Concerning Reissner's Fibre in Teleosts " 

 (Journ. Comp. Neur., vol. xxx, Feb. 191 9), Jordan records his 

 studies on two teleosts, the brook trout and the samlet, and 

 suggests that this structure does not function either directly 

 or indirectly as a nervous mechanism. It is produced by the 

 joining together of a number of tiny fibres produced by certain 

 of the ependymal cells, and its constituent fibrils can be traced 

 to the nuclei of the parent cells. The ependymal fibrils of other 

 cells in the roof of the canalis centralis, and also those that 



