222 SUJMMAKY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Peridinese of New South Wales.— G^. I. Playfair (Proc. Linnean 

 Soc. New South Wales, 1920, 44, 793-818, 3 plates and figs.). An 

 account of such Peridineae as have been found in gatherings of fresh- 

 water algte from Sydney and Lismore, involving a revision of the 

 plankton of the Sidney Water Supply. Sixteen species (two are new) 

 and twenty-three varieties (many are new) are recorded ; most of them 

 are figured and described. Some introductory remarks on grouping of 

 forms, polymorphism and structure are provided. A. Gepp. 



Some Species of Fresh-water Plankton from Gandia (Valencia). 

 — Luis Pardo {Boletin R. Soc. Espanola Hist. Nat. Madrid, 1920, 20, 

 125-9). An account of some algae collected at Gandia in November, 

 including an Oscillator ia, three Conjugatas, a desmid, twelve diatoms, and 

 a flagellate, with remarks on their periodicity and requirements. A. G. 



Lake of Segrino. — E. Corti (Nuova Notarisia, 1920, 31, 161-6). 

 This note on lacustrine biology contains a list of phytoplankton collected 

 during spring and summer months in fine weather from Lake Segrino, 

 at the mouth of the Assina Valley, in Upper Brianza, south of Lake 

 Como. The lake has no affluent streams, and is fed by springs, only one 

 of which is visible from the bank. The phytoplankton consists of 

 eight Schizophyceai, three Dinoflagellat^, five Chlorophycese, seven 

 Desmidie^e, and six Diatomese. Quantitatively it is much less than the 

 zooplankton, qualitatively the contrary is the case. In the neighbour- 

 ing lakes of Pusiano and Alserio the animal surpasses the vegetable 

 plankton ; in take Como the phytoplankton is quantitatively superior. 



E. s. a, 



Campbellosphaera, a New Genus of the Volvocaceae. — Walter 

 R. Shaw {Philippine Journ. Sci., 1919, 15, 493-520, 3 pis. and fig.). 

 An account of a new genus of Volvocese, Camphellosphsera {C. ohversa), 

 ■collected near Manila. It is described in detail and figured by photo- 

 micrographs. The most peculiar character of the genus is the migration 

 of gonidia, formed early in the development of the embryo, from the 

 outside to the inside of the embryo through the phialopore. The 

 gonidia become very large before dividing. The somatic protoplasts 

 lack protoplasmic connecting fibres. The life-history is described from 

 a series of specimens, showing the salient features of asexual and sexual 

 reproduction. The sexual coenobia are monoecious. Comparison is 

 made with Volvox and closely allied genera, involving some revision of 

 synonymy. V. aureus Ehrenb. (1838) is reported to have been collected 

 in California in 1896, and to agree with Klein's ample descriptions 

 (1889-90). The relationships of the Volvoceae are displayed in a 

 diagram. A. G. 



Botrydium granulatum. — C. Janet {Surle Botrydium granulatum. 

 Limoges : Libraire Ducourtieux et Gout, 1918, 6 pp., 1 pi.). An account 

 of the life-history of this alga. B. (franidatum generally occurs in the 

 form of vesicles, either much elongated or pyriform, arising from the 

 development of a protoplastid which maybe either : — 1. A purely vege- 

 tative cell, developed precociously on the individual from which it 



