304 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Jousseaumiella Bourne on a Sipunculid {Aspidosiphoii). They form a 

 series of increasing specialisation — from Montacuta to Entovalva, and 

 further to Jousseaumiella and Scioberetia — and their origin must be found 

 among the Lucinacea. They are related to one another, and are rightly 

 referred to a special family, Montacutidte, for which the following 

 diagnosis is proposed : Commensal Lucinacea, opisthogyrous ; the mantle 

 with one posterior suture considerably elongated ; the foot byssogenous, 

 and provided with an anterior protractor ; the gill formed of one lamella ; 

 hermaphrodite, retaining the young in an incubatory chamber (probable 

 in Jousseaumiella. 



New Bivalves from Falkland Islands.* — J. E. Cooper and H. B. 

 Preston describe a number of new species, additions to the somewhat 

 meagre Molluscan fauna, as at present known, of the Falkland Islands. 

 Two small species, apparently referable to the family Erycinidse, require 

 new genera, which are named Malvinasia and Davisia. 



Mussels Settling in Gas-vesicle of Seaweed. f — Tobler describes 

 how the larvas of Mytilus edulis pass into injured gas-vesicles of Asco- 

 pliyllum nodosum, settle down there, begin their shell-development, and 

 gradually outgrow the vesicle, in which they induce a series of interesting 

 modifications. 



Byssus-apparatus of Lamellibranchs.J — E. Seydel has made a com- 

 parative study of the byssus-apparatus in Arcinas, Pectinidae, Limidse, 

 Aviculidaa, Anomiidaj, Mytilidae, and Dreissensiidse, discussing the mus- 

 culature, the acidophilous glands (which form the byssus), the basophilous 

 glands (which are quite accessory), the epithelium lining the apparatus, 

 and so on. The byssus is not a simple but a composite secretion. 



Arthropoda. 

 a, Iusecta. 



Seed-gathering Ants.§ — F. W. Neger has studied the ways of 

 Messor barbarus, a common ant in Dalmatia, which is at once a leaf- 

 cutter and a seed-gatherer. Most of the seeds (of Leguminosse in par- 

 ticular) had already begun to germinate when the ants put them out to 

 dry, and it is suggested that the advantage of the germination is to burst 

 the seed-coats, for it does not go far enough to change the starch into 

 maltose and dextrin. The shelled and desiccated seeds are taken back to 

 the nest and chewed into a dough, which is exposed in the sun in crumbs, 

 and baked into biscuit-hardness. Perhaps there is some sterilisation in 

 this, but there is some mould left {Aspergillus niger is abundant), which 

 may act as a ferment on the starch. 



Habits of (Ecophylla smaragdina.|| — E. Bugnion gives some account 

 of this common ant of hot countries, which nests on trees and uses the 



3 5 



* Ann. Nat. Hist., v. (1910) pp. 110-14 (1 pi.). 



t SB. Nat. Ver. Preuss. Rheinlande, 1909, pp. 10-12. 



\ Zool. Jahrb., xxvii. (1909) pp. 465-582 (7 pis. and 16 figs.). 



§ Biol. Centralbl., xxx. (1910) pp. 138-50 (3 figs.). 



|| Arch. Sci. Phys. Nat., xxviii. (1909) pp. 511-13 (3 figs.). 



