544 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



the Eastern region they extend much further north. These northern 

 forms appear stunted, but their existence can only be explained by the 

 equatorial current called Kuro-Sudo, which carries larva? northwards 

 from the reefs of Formosa and the Philippines, much as the Gulf 

 Stream of the Atlantic renders the coral reefs of Bermuda possible, 

 though in this case the effect is much more marked. Similarly, the 

 resemblance between the coral fauna of Panama and of Hawaii is ex- 

 plained by the set of the current off the American coast. The author's 

 specimens, obtained by Schauinsland's expedition, include twelve new 

 species, mostly of the genus Porites, of which manj are peculiar to the 

 Sandwich Islands. 



Cilia of Ctenophora and Ciliary Insertion in General.* — P. Vignon 

 describes the cilia in various Ctenophora. Each ciliary fibre is chro- 

 matic throughout its length, but the insertion is cytoplasmic, not 

 chromatic. An analogous case is referred to in the larva of Chironomus, 

 and a long list is given of the various modes of ciliary insertion — on 

 functional centrosomes, on so-called centrosomes, on the nucleus, in the 

 perinuclear cytoplasm, with or without superficial granulation, and 

 so on. 



Protozoa. 



Intra-vitam Staining 1 , f — S. Prowazek gives a preliminary account 

 of the results obtained by treating various living Protozoa and other 

 animals with neutral red. 



Rhizopods of the Lake of Geneva.} — E. Penard, on account of the 

 doubts which have been expressed as to the validity of the peculiar 

 species of Rhizopods described by him in this lake, has subjected the 

 fauna to a new and thorough revision. He finds that the deep-water 

 Rhizopod fauna consists of 3 2 species, of which 23 are absolutely pecu- 

 liar either to this lake or to the lakes of Switzerland in general. When 

 the Rhizopods of the ponds, swamps, &c, of the neighbourhood are 

 added, the total, exclusive of the ill-defined species of Amoeba, is raised 

 to 180 species ; in other words, about 90 p.c. of the known Rhizopods 

 occur in the vicinity of Geneva. From this the author argues that if 

 the 23 species were not truly peculiar to the lake, some proportion at 

 least of them must have been discovered elsewhere. He has succeeded 

 now in finding some of these deep-water forms on the shores of the lake, 

 a fact which renders less obscure the problem of transmission from one 

 lake to another. He believes that, just as there is a special Rhizopod 

 fauna peculiar to certain habitats, e.g. Sphagnum-bogs, so there is a 

 special deep-water Rhizopod fauna. As yet this is known only in the 

 Swiss lakes, but it will probably be also found elsewhere. Apart from 

 these faunas peculiar to special habitats, the Rhizopods are generally 

 cosmopolitan. This is probably also true of other Protozoa and of 

 Protophyta. 



Radiolaria Tripylea of the Mediterranean. §— Dr. A. Borgert points 

 out that although these Radiolarians increase in number as the equator 



* Comptes Rendus, cxxxii. (1901) pp. 1346-8. 



t Zool. Anzeig., xxiv. (1901) pp. 455-60. 



X Rev. Suisse Zool., ix. (1901) pp. 225-41. 



§ MT. Zool. Stat. Neapel. xiv. (.1901) pp. 239-46 (1 pi.). 



