ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 313 



stimulating secretion given off by the female. Sexual union seems more 

 or less a matter of chance. There is little or no power of sex-discrimina- 

 tion. During the mating season the male " tries " every crawfish which 

 he meets, and the instinct of the female is to remain passive, while 

 another male seeks to escape. 



Distribution of Palinurus vulgaris in British Waters.* — James 

 Ritchie finds that the thorny lobster has been recorded from various 

 localities along all the coasts of the British Isles, except from that portion 

 of the east coast which lies to the north of Flamborough Head. It is 

 most abundant in the south-west, becoming scarcer northwards, although 

 the apparent scarcity may, in part, be due to its long and unyielding 

 antennas, which frequently hinder it from entering crab-pots. 



Jurassic and Modern Eryonidae.f — Walther von Knebel has given 

 a precise diagnosis of the family Eryonida? and a reconstruction of the 

 Jurassic forms, even the moulting process being recorded in the fine 

 stone. There seem to have been ancient attempts at establishing new 

 adaptations on the part of the Jurassic Eryonids, but without achieve- 

 ment. In the section Eryonidas angustiformes there is persistence of 

 highly evolved features from the Jurassic times till now. 



Variability of Palsemonetes varians.f — Artur Brozek has made a 

 statistical study of this common prawn at Triest, and compares his 

 results with those obtained at Plymouth and elsewhere. 



Blind Prawn from Galilee. §— AY. T. Caiman describes Tgphlocaris 

 qalilea g. et sp. n., from a small pond communicating with the Sea of 

 Galilee." It probably came from subterranean waters. Though refer- 

 able to the Palaemonidaj, it is quite different from Palsemonetes antrorum 

 Benedict and P. eigcnmanni Hay from Central Africa, and requires a new 

 genus. The list of subterranean Decapods now includes nine forms, viz. 

 two Atyida? (Troghcaris schmkltii Dorm, and Palsemonias gauteri Hay), 

 four species of Cambarus, and the three forms referred to above. 



Eyes of Gammarids.|| — E. Strauss gives a careful description of the 

 structure of the normal eye in Gammarids and of various stages of 

 degeneration. The crystalline cones may become small discs, or may 

 wholly disappear. The retinulse and rhabdoms may be affected, and the 

 point of this fine study is that stage after stage of degeneration is 

 depicted in a succession of types, until finally even the optic nerves 

 disappear. 



Agglutination of Blood Corpuscles in Gammarus.f — John Tait 

 finds that the antenna? of Gammarus marinus afford a very convenient 

 object for the study of the agglutination of the blood corpuscles. If 

 the end is cut off the blood pours out into the surrounding water and 

 the formation of the clot is very readily observed. 



* Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinburgh, xxiii. (1910) pp. 68-71. 

 t Arch. f. Biontolog., ii. (1909) pp. 195-233 (4 pis.). 

 % SB. k. Bohm. Ges. Wiss., 1909, No. 2, pp. 1-11 (1 pi.). 

 § Trans. Linn. Soc. Zool., xi. (1909) pp. 93-7 (1 pi.). 



I! Wiss. Ergehnisse Deutsch. Tiefsee Exped., xx. Lief. 1, pp. 1-84 (6 pis. and 47 

 figs.). f Quart. Journ. Exp. Physiol., i. (1908) pp. 247-9. 



