426 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Annulata. 



Palolo Worm.* — W. M. Woodworth gives an account of this once 

 mysterious worm. He confirms from direct observations Elilers' de- 

 scription of the " Palolo " as the epitokal posterior portion of Eunice 

 viridis, and supplements earlier accounts in various particulars. The 

 discharge of the sexual products is likened to an explosion ; all that is 

 left afterwards is a small shrivelled mass. The collapsed integument 

 shows distinct lateral rents, sometimes extending through several seg- 

 ments ; the sexual products are evidently discharged through these 

 simultaneously along the whole length of the " Palolo." This mode of 

 discharge accounts for the apparent sudden disappearance of the dense 

 swarms of worms a short time after their appearance. On the day 

 before the rising of the Samoan " Palolo " a small headless Annelid 

 appears in large numbers, which also has the sexes distinguished by 

 brown and greenish tints. Some particulars regarding this form, which 

 is tentatively named Eunice dubia, are given. 



New Enchytrseid.f — -R. Issel describes Fridericia ilvana, a new 

 Enchytrseid from Elba, where he also obtained F. leydigi Veyd., 

 F. bulbosa Rosa, and Biicholzia sarda Cognetti. 



Nematohelminthes. 



Classification and Distribution of Nematoidea.| — A. Schepotieff 

 gives a clear statement of the faunistic distribution of the Nematoidea 

 and provides a classification of the group. The Desmoscolecida^ occur 

 in greatest numbers in the sub-littoral and in the deep-sea regions. In 

 the coast zone, especially amongst algae, examples are few. The 

 Echinoderidje occur almost exclusively in the coast zone. In the sub- 

 littoral they are rare, and at depths of more than 200 m. they do not 

 occur. Trichoderma is found in pretty large numbers in the deep-sea 

 zone only. Rhahdogaster on the whole is not rare in any of the zones, 

 from the lowest ebb-zone to the greatest depths investigated. The 

 Chastosomatidffi occur in large numbers in the coast zone ; single 

 examples occur rarely also in the other zones, but they never occur in 

 the absence of algae. 



Filaria in Man.§ — R. Penel has made the interesting discovery that 

 Filaria loa is the adult form of Filaria diurna. Filaria loa is a parasite 

 of the superficial connective-tissue in all parts of the body, and not of 

 the eye only. 



Parasites from the Gharial.|l — 0. von Linstow describes from two 

 Oharials at Calcutta the following parasites : — 3Iicropleura vivipara 

 g. et sp. n. from the mesentery, a new genus related to Filaria ; 

 Typhlophoros lamellaris g. et sp. n. from the stomach, a new form 



* Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, li. (1907) pp. 1-21 (3 pis.). 

 t Ann. Mus. Nat. Genova, xlii. (1905-6) pp. 5-8 (5 figs.). 

 X Zool. Anzeig., xxxi. (1907) pp. 132-61 (25 figs.). 



§ Les filaires du sang de rhomme. Paris : F. de Rudeval, 2nd ed. 1905. See 

 also Centralbl. Bakt. Parasitt-nk, Ref., xxxviii. (1906) pp. 703-4. 

 II Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, ii. No. 7 (1907) pp. 269-71 (1 pi.). 



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