566 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Hereditary Immunity to Rabies.* — P. Remlinger finds that in the 

 rabbit the role of the male parent in transmitting anti-rabic immunity 

 is nil. The role of the mother, however, is real, especially when the 

 immunisation is effected during gestation and in an intensive manner. 

 Even then the influence is very variable. We do not know why the 

 author calls it hereditary. 



Immunity of Snakes to Amphibian Poison.f — M. Phisalix has 

 shown experimentally that some snakes show a marked relative immu- 

 nity to salamandrine, which holds good however the poison is introduced. 



Tunicata. 



Pelagic Tunicates of Gulf Stream.! — The late W. K. Brooks 

 described the rare Salpa floridana (Apstein), and defined the subgenus 

 Gyclosalpa, including ;S'. pinnata, S. affinis, S. virgula, and 8. floridana. 

 Along with C. Kellner he described Oikopleura tortugensis sp. n.frorn the 

 Tortugas. 



INVEETEBRATA. 

 Mollusca. 



Molluscs from Bay of Biscay.§— A. Reynell reports on 75 species 

 collected by the ' Huxley ' — Amphineura (1), Pelecypoda (34), Scapho- 

 pods (2), Gastropods (37), Nudibranchs (1). Of the 75 species, 62 

 have been recorded • from the British area. The remaining 13 are: 

 Pecten bruei, Lima marioni, L. excavgta, Emarginula multistriata, Gallio- 

 stoma ohesulum, Natica operculata, Ranella gigantea, Scala richardi, 

 Pseudomurex richardi, and Cavolinia trispinosa. 



a. Cephalopoda. 



Olfactory and Tactile Sensitiveness of Octopus. || — S. Baglioni 

 blinded some cuttlefishes and fishes with a glowing glass rod, and 

 made some striking experiments after the creatures were quite healed 

 and showed spontaneous desire for food. (1) As to the sense of smell, 

 an octopus detected a dead Trachurus (without head or viscera) at a 

 distance of 1*5 m., and found it in 5 minutes 5 seconds. The seconds 

 show the precision of the experiments. The fish Balistes did the same 

 sort of thing. (2) As to the sense of touch, the octopus reacted by 

 colour-change and contraction to the slightest sudden vibrations in the 

 water, whether that was in motion or not before the stimulus. Very 

 loud noises had no effect. 



y. Gastropoda. 



Revision of Chitons.1T — J. Thiele describes a number of new species 

 of Lepidopleurus, Trachgdermon, Tonicella, Plaxiphora, Craspedo chiton, 

 Aristochiton g. n., Loboplax, and Wotoplax, and corrects a number of 

 mistakes that have been made in previous naming. 



* Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xxiii. (1909) pp. 430-40. 



t Comptes Rendus., cxlviii. (1909) pp. 857-60. 



% Carnegie Institution, Washington, Publication 102 (1908) pp. 73-94 (8 pis. 

 and 3 figs.). § Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc, viii. (1909) pp. 359-91. 



|| Zentralbl. Physiol., xxii. (1909) 5 pp. See also Zool. Zentralbl., xvi. (1909). 

 pp. 270-1. 1 Zoologica, xxii. (1909) heft 56, pp. 1-70 (6 pis. and 5 figs.). 



