ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 307 



in the middle of the oesophagus — an unusual position. The wound is 

 made in the same way as in the mosquito. A trypanosome, Crii 'India 

 simulise, was found in the intestine. 



Rat Fleas at Marseilles.* — J. Const. Gauthier and A. Raybaud give 

 statistics of the different kinds of fleas found on the brown rat {Mus 

 decumanus), the black rat {Mus rattus), and the Alexandrine variety 

 {Mus alexandrinus). The commonest is Pulex cheopis, the others are 

 Ceratophyllus fasciatus, Ctenopsylla musculi and Ctenocephalus serraticeps. 

 The human Pulex irritans was not found. The seasonal distribution is 

 of interest. The months of August and September show the greatest 

 prevalence of P. cheopis (on the brown rat), and these are the months 

 in which there is most plague in temperate parts of the northern 

 hemisphere. 



Rat Flea capable of Biting Man.t— J. Const. Gauthier and A. Ray- 

 baud have put it beyond doubt that Ceratophyllus fasciatus, the habitual 

 flea of the rat {Mus decumanus), is able to " bite " man, and thus to play 

 a role in distributing plague and other diseases. 



New Species of Rhipidius.J — Abeille de Perrin has some notes on 

 Rhipidius boissyi sp. n. from Provence, one of those strange and very 

 rare little beetles which spend their larval life inside Orthoptera, as 

 Stylops in Hymenoptera. 



External Digestion in Carabus auratus.§ — Hermann Jordan has 

 observed how this beetle makes a depression in a piece of flesh that it is 

 eating, exudes some digestive juice into this, works it up with its jaws,, 

 and goes on doing so until a genuine external digestion has occurred.. 

 The author has collected a number of other instances of this external 

 digestion of the food. 



Eyes of Pentamerous Beetles. || — Otto Kirchhoffer has made a 

 detailed study of the eyes of Staphylinidae, Histeridaj, Silphidse, Cleridre, 

 Elateridae, etc. He finds that they have no crystalline cones. An appa- 

 rent crystalline cone seen in many cases is merely a piece of the cornea. 

 The retinula consists of eight visual cells, with seven distal nuclei, and 

 one sunk deeply. The rhabdom is usually formed from only six of these 

 visual cells. The cell whose nucleus is deeply sunk is in many cases the 

 origin of a basal rhabdom, or basal organ. But we cannot do more than 

 refer to a few of the conclusions of a very careful piece of work. 



Reactions of Mealworms.lf — Max Morse has investigated the factors 

 determining the reactions of the larva of Tenelrio molitor. The body 

 surface as a whole is sensitive to light of great intensity. Nevertheless 

 there is no orientation exhibited by virtue of this reaction. This was 

 made evident by painting one side of the animal with lampblack mix- 

 ture, leaving the head exposed. Orientation takes place by means of 



* C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxviii. (1910) pp. 196-9. 



t Op. cit., lxvii. (1909) pp. 859-60. % Tom. cit., pp. 854-8. 



§ Biol. Centralbl., xxx. (1910) pp. 85-96. 



|| Arch. Biontolog., ii. (1909) pp. 237-87 (7 pis.). 



^ Joum. Comp. Neurol, and Psychol., xix. (1909) pp. 721-9 (1 fig.). 



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