88 NATURAL SCIENCE. Aug., 



British Museum. It is interesting to note that a letter confirming the 

 results of the investigation of Splachnidium has been received by the 

 authors of the new natural order, published in the last part. Mr. Laing 

 writes from New Zealand describing the escape of the zoospores from 

 the Splachnidian sporangia, which he has himself witnessed. The 

 first paper in Part II. is entitled "Notes on the Morphology of the 

 Fucaceae" (Coccophora and Seirococcns by Miss A. L. Smith, Notheia by 

 Miss Mitchell, Xiphophora by Miss Barton and Savcophycus by Miss 

 Whitting), and goes far to clear up points left undecided in this large 

 and important order. It is prefaced by the editor, who explains that 

 the authors of these notes have investigated material of genera un- 

 examined or left uncertain by Oltmanns in his account of the Fucaceae, 

 and the result is in some ways confirmatory of Oltmanns' expecta- 

 tions. We are glad to see that the two genera Ecklonia and Scabevia 

 are also to be examined, since the fact of finding oogonia on 

 branched hairs in the female conceptacles of Savcophycus would lead 

 us to expect interesting results from the investigation of a genus so 

 closely allied as Ecklonia. Notheia is also to receive more attention 

 in a future number, since we have here an example of a degraded 

 Fucaceous alga, if not a parasite, at least suspiciously attached to its 

 host by a wedge of tissue like a haustorium. 



A contribution by Miss Whitting on a new species of Chlorocystis 

 shows careful investigation. The occurrence of parasites on Algae 

 is becoming a somewhat favourite field of research, and the new 

 species here described is the only one of this genus which has 

 hitherto been found to inflict injury on its host. It is a pity that 

 this clever worker has not cultivated a more impersonal style of 

 expressing herself. Possibly Mr. Bracebridge Wilson, who supplied 

 the material to the British Museum, may be able eventually to 

 report more completely on the life-history of this new parasite. 



The editor (Mr. George Murray) has three papers — one throwing 

 light on the much-disputed question of " fasergriibchen," or, as they 

 are called here, cryptostomata. This, taken together with Miss 

 Mitchell's paper on Hydroclathrus, places the character of these 

 bodies in a clearer light than has hitherto been the case, and 

 we hope Mr. Murray will not allow the matter to rest here, 

 but will pursue the investigation still further and place the 

 question of the real nature of cryptostomata beyond all dispute. 

 His two remaining papers are, " On Halicystis and Valonia," 

 and "A Comparison of the Marine Floras of the Warm 

 Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope." The 

 former treats of Halicystis ovalis, Aresch. — a generic type new to 

 Britain — and compares the morphology of this Siphoneous genus with 

 that of Valonia. The remarkable reproductive organs of Valonia, 

 noted in the living state some years ago by the author in the West 

 Indies, are here described for the first time. Dr. Schmitz's remarks 

 on the position of the genus Halicystis are incorporated in this paper. 



