54 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Monograph of the Melicertidse.* — Stanislav Hlava, whilst de- 

 scribing and figuring more fully the various species of this family 

 that have been found in Bohemia, gives an account of all the known 

 species. No new species are described, but some ancient names have 

 been revived which appear to have the merit of priority according to 

 modern rules. 



Rotifera of the Exeter District.! — John Stevens gives a list of 

 171 species of Rotifera observed by him in the neighbourhood of 

 Exeter, including some rare species such as Dinops longipes, Micrtcodon 

 clavus, and Copeus spicatus. The author also records observations, 

 showing that Proales decipiens enters the tubes of Stephanoceros eich- 

 Jiorni, devours the occupant, including the eggs, and then lays its own 

 eggs in the empty case, all of which occupies about sixty hours, and 

 then departs, leaving its brood to take care of itself. 



Echinoderaia. 



Antarctic Echinoderms.J— F. Jeffrey Bell reports on the ' Discovery ' 

 collection, and describes a number of new species — Pseudopsolus ferrari, 

 Antedon adriani, Asterias longstaffi, Heuresaster hodgsoni g. n., Pmta- 

 gonaster incertus, Ophiura lioehleri. He calls attention to the wide 

 range of variation in Ophiozona incrmis and in Cycethra verrucosa. The 

 ' Discovery,' like the ' Gauss,' was fortunate in re-discovering the interest- 

 ing Crinoid Promachocrinus, which was one of the prizes of the voyage 

 of the ' Challenger.' 



Echinoderm. Larvse from the Antarctic^ — E. W. MacBride and 

 J. C. Simpson report on two Plutei (of a sea-urchin and an Ophiuroid) 

 — which are probably the first free-SAvimming Echinoderm larvae found 

 within the Antarctic circle, on the brood-pouch and embryos of Cum- 

 maria crocea, and on the early stages of Asterias orandti. 



Effect of Alkaloids on Early Development of Sea-urchin. |j 

 S. Morgulis finds that alkaloids, such as atropine, pilocarpine, morphine, 

 digitaline, strychnine, or quinine, when present in very small quantities 

 in the sea-water, have no influence on the developing eggs of To.ro- 

 pneustes variegatus, but begin to act when they approach a certain con- 

 centration. Pilocarpine does not hasten the development, and larvae 

 developing in pilocarpine solutions are either of the normal size or a little 

 smaller. Pilocarpine and atropine mixed in various proportions do not 

 neutralise each other's action, but the depressing effect predominates. 



Specie3 of Holothuria Studied Biometrically.lf — C. L. Edwards 



expounds the use of biometrical methods in taxonomy, and gives the 

 following illustration. A common Florida-Caribbean Holothurian was 

 described in 1851 by Pourtales as Holothuria floridana. In 1868 



* Arch. Natur. Land. Bohmen, xiii. (1908) pp. 1-83. 

 t Proc. College Field Club, Exeter, 1907, pp. 30-52. 

 % Nat. Antarctic Exped.' (Zool.) iv. (1908) 16 pp. (5 pis.). 

 § Tom. cit., 9 pp. (1 pi.). 



|| Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci., xliv. (1908) pp. 133-46. 

 i Amer. Nat., xlii. (1908) pp. 537-40. 



