ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 69 



Foraminifera), with a shell of regularly arranged peculiarly formed 

 calcareous plates, a large nucleus in granular plasm, and without chro- 

 matophores ; locomotion unknown ; form spherical or ellipsoidal. 



Fain. 1. Coccosphoerales Haeck. Calcareous plates like a stud, with- 

 out long radiating outgrowths ; with the single geuus Coccosphsera Wallich 

 (including Haeckel's Cyathosphsera), with C. pelagica and C. atlantica as 

 species. 



Fam. 2. Ehahdosphaerales Haeck. Calcareous plates provided with 

 long outgrowths, pelagic in the tropical Atlantic, including Rhabdo- 

 sphsera Murray, in which the outgrowths are terminally rounded without 

 discs, and Discosphdera Haeck., in which the outgrowths bear a distal 

 disc. 



In the same paper the author discusses new species of Cyttarocylis 

 and Tintinnus, which he has been able to add to the known Tiutinnidse. 



Digestion in Ciliata.* — Dr. S. Costamagna has made some experi- 

 ments in intra vitam staining of Ciliata with neutral-rod (rectif. Khrlich). 

 The stainable granules, described by Prowazek in the endoplasm of 

 certain Ciliata, arise within the food-vacuoles during the process of 

 digestion. The granules, regularly scattered through the cell-substauce 3 

 and stainable with neutral-red, gradually move to the more superficial 

 parts of the endoplasm, whence they may pass to form in some way the 

 external excretory droplets. 



Psychology of Paramaecium.t — Mr. H. S. Jennings sums up from 

 the psychological standpoint the results of his numerous experiments 

 on the vital phenomena of this Protozoon. The special interest of his 

 results is that, while Paramsecium presents not a few phenomena which 

 appear to demand a psychical explanation, yet in point of fact, all these 

 can be reduced to simple protoplasmic irritability. Thus Paramsecium 

 in its natural conditions feeds on bacteria, and if a fragment of bacterial 

 zooglcea be placed in a drop of water containing Paramsecia, these at 

 once collect round it, even if they are so numerous that only a propor- 

 tion are actually in contact with the zooglcea. Further, the Paramsecia 

 are social, collecting in large musses both in the culture-jars and in 

 isolated drops of water beneath the Microscope ; they are also strongly 

 attracted by certain fluids such as dilute acid, and strongly repelled by 

 others, especially alkalis. Such characteristics might be (as indeed they 

 have been) explained by the use of the ordinary psychological terms, 

 but careful observation shows that all are purely automatic. Thus food- 

 taking is the mechanical result of the movement of the cilia ; these 

 sweep particles into the mouth without regard t ■> the nutritive value of 

 the particles. Further, the remarkable swarming movement about 

 bacterial zooglcea occurs also with any solid substance introduced into 

 the water, and is due to the fact that when the organism hits against 

 a solid particle all its cilia come to rest except those lining the oral 

 cavity. Again, the " sociality " can be explained in the following way. 

 The Paramsecia are roving animals which wander about in all directions ; 

 but if in the course of their wanderings they strike against some minute 

 particle, or even a mere roughness in the glass, they then come to rest, 



* Atli Accad. Torino, xxxiv. (1899) pp. 1035-44 (1 pi.), 

 t Amer. Juurn. Psychol., x. (1899) pp. 1-13. 



