ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 537 



in size, but this is merely due to the accumulation of extraneous 

 substance around them. In reality they diminish in size from the time 

 of their formation, and produce a substance which is the cause of the 

 karyokinetic changes. 



Reproductive Organs of Planaria maculata. * — W. C. Curtis de- 

 scribes for the first time the structure and development of the gonads 

 of this common American form. The eggs are laid in May and June, 

 but the young do not appear to develop reproductive organs until the 

 approach of autumn, as specimens fotmd in summer show no trace of 

 these. Worms taken in September and October show ovaries and testes, 

 but not the ducts nor the genital atrium ; the genital products apparently 

 ripen slowly, as little change occurs in the gonads during the formation 

 of the accessory organs. The general arrangement of the organs is 

 similar to that found in other Planarians. 



Tasmanian Land Planarians. f — T. Steel discusses the general 

 characters of the planarians of Tasmania, and describes two new species 

 and a new variety. He finds that there is nothing peculiar about the 

 planarians of Tasmania as contrasted with those of Australia. The 

 peculiar species do not differ from the common species more than the 

 peculiar species of one district of Australia differ from those of another. 

 Of the twelve known Tasmanian species, six are common iu Australia, 

 and six are peculiar. 



Australian Land Planarians. J — T. Steel describes several new 

 species, the most interesting being Geoplana fuscodorsalis and G. 

 wenicola from Perth, Western Australia. Both were found in dry 

 sandy soil, in a district where the dry season lasts eight months, and 

 the soil in summer becomes baked to a depth of two feet. As yet the 

 means by which the creatures withstand the prolonged drought has not 

 been discovered. The author's observations show that the diet of the 

 land planarians is not vegetable matter, as was supposed by Darwin, but 

 consists of insects, earthworms, slugs, and Peripatus. They entangle 

 their prey in the slimy mucus secreted by the surface of the body, and 

 suck the soft contents by means of the suctorial tube protruded from 

 the peripharyngeal aperture. In regard to the method of laying of the 

 large egg-capsule, the author confirms Dendy's observations that this 

 takes place by rupture of the dorsal body-wall. The rent rapidly heals 

 after the extrusion of the capsule. 



Turbellarians of Switzerland. §— Dr. W. Volz reviews the Turbel- 

 larian fauna of Switzerland, giving notes on habitat, the literature, &c. 

 He also describes several new species, including Mesocastrada fuhrmanni 

 g. et sp. n., and Diplopenis tripeti g. et sp. n. 



Revision of the Family Bothriocephalidae.|| — V. Ariola gives us a 

 history of the study of Bothriocephalidas, a diagnosis of all known 

 species with their inevitable synonyms, a list of hosts, an account of 



* Circ. Johns Hopkins. Univ., xix. (1900) pp. 56-9 (9 figs.), 

 t Proc. Lian. Soc. N. S. Wales, xxv. (1900) pp. 618-31 (1 pi.). 

 J Tom. cit., pp. 563-80 (1 pi.). 

 § Rev. Suisse Zool., ix. (1901) pp. 137-88 (4 pis.). 



|| Arch. Farasitol., iii. (1900) pp. 369-484. See Zool. Centralbl.. viii. (1901) 

 j>. 499. 



