562 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



larvae. The process of growth was followed from the time of fixation 

 of the free-swimming individuals as far as the production of the early 

 skeleton. 



Actinians of Porto Rico.* — J. E. Duerden describes the structure 

 of a collection of (13) Actinians from Porto Rico, including a new 

 species Bunadosoma splierulata. 



Dispersal of Sagartia lucise.f — G- H. Parker makes a report on 

 the multiplication and dispersal of this New England sea-anemone, 

 which seems to have migrated eastward from New Haven and northward 

 to Salem with relatively great rapidity. It has probably covered the 

 distance between these extremes in ten years. Like the introduced peri- 

 winkle, Littorina littorea, this species will probably gain an extended 

 distribution both north and south of Cape Cod, though in this instance 

 the invasion comes from the south instead of from the north, as with 

 the periwinkle. 



Porifera. 



Asexual Origin of the Ciliated Sponge Larva. I — H. V. Wilson 

 has previously published certain observations which led him to believe 

 that in monaxonid sponges, e.g. Esperella fibrexilis, free-swimming larvas 

 identical in structure with those developing from eggs are sometimes 

 produced asexually. He still holds to this interpretation of what he 

 observed, answers some criticisms of Maas, and finds confirmation in 

 Lima's description of the congeries or groups of " archseocytes " (un- 

 differentiated cells) which occur in Hexactinellids. After recalling 

 Wilson's observations, Ijima says : " I conceive the mode of origin 

 and growth of the archasocyte congeries in the Hexactinellida to be 

 just the same, and it seems to me not impossible that in the hexactinellid 

 larvae which I have seen we have simply a new case of the ' gemmule- 

 larva ' or bud embryo." 



Algerian Sponges.§ — E. Topsent gives a faunistic account of the 

 sponges (62 in number) of the Algerian coasts (La Calle), and compares 

 them with those of the Erench and Italian coasts. 



Protozoa. 



Yeast-eating Amoeboid Organism. || — T. Ciirzaszcz gives a graphic 

 description of the powers possessed by Phywrum leucophseum ferox in 

 devouring yeast-cells (Mycoderma cerevisise, Saccharomyces apiculatus, 

 &c.) and digesting them. A struggle with the bacteria of acetic acid 

 was also witnessed ; the microbes were ingulfed, " jedocli nicht gerne," 

 and they were soon expelled again. The amoeboid organism in question 

 is a myxomycete, closely allied to Physarum leucophseum. 



Digestion in Amoebae. 1 — H. Mouton has carefully isolated an 

 amoeba and studied its multiplication, encystation, and digestive pro- 



* Bull. U.S. Fish Commission for 1900, pp. 323-74 (13 pis.). 



t Amer. Nat., xxxvi. (1902) pp. 491-3. % Tom. cit., pp. 451-9. 



§ Arch. Zool. Expe>., ix. (1901) pp. 327-70 (2 pis.). 



II Centralbl. Bakt., 2" Abt, viii. (1902) pp. 431-41 (1 pi.). 



f Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xvi. (1902) pp. 457-509 (1 pi.). 



