ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC 177 



Growth-stages in Parasmilia.* — W. U. Lang- has studied the growth- 

 stages in British species of this coral. The points touched on are these : — 

 Hereditary growth-stages exhibited in rejuvenescence as evidence that 

 the latter is a form of fission ; views on the formation of dissepiments 

 and tabulae, and Bernard's ideas on these in connection with fission ; their 

 equal application to the colony and to the individual, and a suggested 

 relation with histolysis ; finally, comparison with other widely different 

 groups of branching organisms — Plants and Polyzoa — so that laws of 

 branching in one group may be compared with those in another, and any 

 law common to all may be determined. 



Observations on Living Alcyonarians.f — W. Kiikenthal has studied 

 living specimens of Alcyonium adriaticum, Pteroeides griseum, and 

 Eunicella verrucosa. When colonies were placed in water bereft of 

 its oxygen, they showed a more or less marked swelling up, which 

 suggests that the intake of water is largely of respiratory significance. 

 Colonies may be expanded for preserving purposes by placing them in 

 water with little oxygen. The pores at the top of the shaft in Pteroeides 

 serve for rapid expulsion of water. 



Alcyonarians of Irish Coasts. J— Jane Stephens reports on a collec- 

 tion of Alcyonarians from Irish waters. It includes Sarcodictyon 

 catenata Forbes, Alcyonium digitatum Linn, Anthomastus agaricus 

 Studer, Eunephthya (Dura) rosea (Kor. and Dan.), Gymnosarca bathy- 

 bius Kent, Gorallium johnsoni Gray, Ceratoisis grayi Wright, Acanella 

 arbuscida Johnson, Ghelido/iisis aurantiaca Studer, Caligorgia flabellum 

 (Ehrenberg), Stachyodes versluysi Hickson, Chmatissa robusta (Wright 

 and Studer), A. muricata Verrill, Paramuricea atlantica, Gallistephanus 

 Jcoreni Wright and Studer, Pennatida aculeata Kor. and Dan., P. 

 bellissima Fowler, Virgularia mirabilis (0. F. Miiller), Protoptilum 

 thomsoni Kolliker, Funiculina quadrangular is, Benthoptilum sertum 

 Verrill (a remarkably fine specimen), Kophobelemnon stelliferum Miiller, 

 Umbelhda encrinus (Linn) var. ambigua Marion. 



New Species of Stachyodes. §— S. J. Hickson describes Stachyodes 

 versluysi sp. n. from Irish waters, e.g., 77 miles west-north-west of 

 Achill Head, 382 fathoms. Its closest affinities are with S. dichotoma 

 and S. studeri, from which it differs in the large number of zooids in 

 each whorl and in the character of the coenenchym spicules. It is 

 probable that the specimens from the Bay of Biscay described by Roule 

 as Calypterinus all man i belongs to this species. 



Indian Ocean Alcyonarians. || — J. Arthur Thomson and J. J. Simpson 

 give an account of the Alcyonarians collected by the ' Investigator ' in the 

 littoral area, and W. D. Henderson is responsible for the treatment of 

 the huge and difficult genus Spongodes or Dendronephtliya. The collec- 



* Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1909, pp. 285-307 (19 figs.). 



t Aus der Natur., v. (1909) pp. 321-8 (4 figs.). 



X Sci. Invest. Fisheries Ireland, v. (1907) published 1909, pp. 1-28 (1 pi.). 



§ Tom. cit.,pp. 10-13. 



|| An Account of the Alcyonarians collected by R.I. M.S. S. 'Investigator' in the 

 Indian Ocean. II. The Alcyonarians of the Littoral Area. Printed by order of 

 the Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, 1909, xviii. and 319 pp. (9 pis.). 



