ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 519 



Tactile Org^an in Cheek of Scalops aquations. *— J. E. Ackert 

 describes a protuberance containing five vibrisste in the cheek of this 

 shrew-mole. More or less similar structures occur in the cheek of the 

 white-footed mouse {Peromyscus Uucopus), the rat {Mus norvec/icus), the 

 bat {My Otis lucifugus), and the opossum {Didelphys virginiana). It 

 seems to be the rale that those mammals that have numerous well- 

 developed snout vibrissge have small protuberances in their cheeks. The 

 elevation of the tissues constituting the protuberance is probably caused 

 by the growth of the vibrisste, by the enormously developed blood 

 sinuses of the latter, and by the increased amount of supporting tissue 

 present. The protuberance is innervated by a sensory ramus from the 

 temporal portion of the auriculo-temporal branch of the mandibular 

 nerve. The protuberance in the cheek of Scalops functions as a tactile 

 organ. 



Distribution of Parasites in Amphibians, f — Emile Andre has tried 

 to discover in his study of the parasites of Swiss amphibians whether 

 there are mutually exclusive forms, and whether the distribution of 

 parasites varies with locality, sex, or season. His results are unfortu- 

 nately negative, but he communicates a number of facts in regard to 

 the parasites of toad and salamander. In the toad he found the follow- 

 ing Infusorians : Nyctotheriis cordiformis, Opaliaa ranarum, Bakmtidium 

 entozoon, Balaiididiopsis duodeni, the Cestode N ematotaeiiia dispar, five 

 Trematodes, and four Nematohelminthes. 



Tunicata. 



Commensals of Canadian Ascidians.| — A. G. Huntsman, in a report 

 on Canadian Ascidians, refers to the number of commensals. Many of 

 the simple forms harbour Protozoa in the pharynx and atrial cavity, the 

 majority being attached to the oral tentacles. A new hydroid, described 

 by C. McLean Fraser as Crypta huntsmani and referred to the family 

 Turridae, occurs in many Ascidians at Departure Bay. It coats the pre- 

 branchial zone, and small colonies are occasionally found on the wall of 

 the atrial cavity. Nearly every individual of Phallusia ceratodes con- 

 tained this form, and it was also found in Ascidiopsis paratropa, Giona 

 intestinalis, and Tethyum aarantium. 



INVERTEBRATA. 



-V Mollusca. 



7. Gastropoda. 



Feeding in Slipper-Limpet.§ — J. H. Orton has studied the minute 

 mechanism of feeding in Crepidula fornicata, a marine Pectinibranch 

 which settles down at an early age to sedentary life. It feeds, like an 

 oyster, on Diatoms, and in the same way. A food-current of water is 



* Auat. Anzeig., xli. (1912) pp. 3il-7 (5 figs.). 



t Eev. Suisse ZooL, xx. (1912) pp. 471-85. 



X Trans. Canadian Inst., ix. (1912) pp. 111-48. 



§ Journ. Mar. Biol. Ass., ix. (1912) pp. 444-78 (20 figs ). 



