232 NATURAL SCIENCE. October. 1896. 



and " Quiraing." The shocks extended over an area of forty miles in 

 the south of the island, and destroyed many farms and two churches, 

 besides killing a number of sheep and cattle. A slight shock was 

 also felt on September 2. The hot springs in the neighbourhood have 

 assumed the form of small geysers, and the phenomenon is regarded 

 as due to an approaching eruption of Mount Hecla. 



Scorpions. 



Professor Malcolm Laurie has been examining numerous 

 scorpions with a view to determining the classificatory value of the 

 anatomy and development. His results, published in the August 

 number of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, lead him to be 

 " more than ever convinced of the great value of the mode of develop- 

 ment as a basis for classification," and he considers " the structure of 

 the lung-book lamellae of subordinate but considerable value." 



There are two chief types of development among scorpions which 

 Laurie describes as apoikogenic and katoikogenic. The first (cxTrotKo?, 

 away from home) type, is as a rule abundantly supplied with food- 

 yolk, the egg early leaves the follicle in which it is formed and passes 

 into the cavity of the ovarian tube ; the second type (KarotKos, at home), 

 so far as observation has yet gone, is devoid of any appreciable amount of 

 food yolk, while the egg develops in situ, and the embryo as it becomes 

 too large for the follicle, extends down and occupies a diverticulum 

 from the ovarian tube, at the distal end of which the egg is originally 

 formed. The author's investigations lead him to believe that the 

 apoikogenic type of development is the most primitive. It is only one 

 step from the laying of the eggs, which is almost the universal custom 

 among the Arthropoda. With regard to the structure of the lung- 

 books, Professor Laurie is inclined to consider the "spinous" type 

 as the original. It is interesting to note that his classification coin- 

 cides very closely with that proposed by Pocock, which was based 

 on external structures. 



Lepidosiren. 



Dr. Gunther prints in Nature (July 23) a letter from Dr. Goeldi, 

 of the Para Museum, announcing the discovery of Lepidosiren at the 

 mouth of the River Amazons. The exact locality of the specimen is 

 Fazenda ' Dunas,' on Cape Magoary, Island of Marajo, and it is the 

 third that has been seen in that locality. A brief examination of the 

 specimen led Dr. Goeldi to agree with Dr. Gunther and Professor 

 Lankester in considering that there is only one species of the fish, and 

 that L. dissimilis, L. gigliona, and L. avticnlata are merely synonyms 

 of L. paradoxa. Although there are six Amazonian specimens in 

 European museums, this additional discovery is of much interest and 

 importance. 



