190 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. ix. 



tain. The paper concluded with a classificatioa of the conodonts 

 from the above deposits. — On Annelid Jaws from the Cambro- 

 Sihiriaii, Silurian and Devonian formations in Canada^ and 

 from the Lower Carboniferous in Scotland^ by G. eTenuings 

 Hinde, F.G.S. After referring to the very few recorded instances 

 of the discovery of any portions of the organisms of errant 

 annelids as distinct from their trails and impression in the rocks, 

 the author noticed the characters of the strata, principally shal- 

 low-water deposits in which the annelid jaws described by him are 

 imbedded. A description was given of the principal varieties of 

 form and of the structure of the jaws. They were classified from 

 their resemblance to existing forms under seven genera, five of 

 which are included in the family Eunicea, one in the family 

 Lycoridea, and one among the Glycerea. The author enumerated 

 fifty-five different forms, the greater proportion of which are from 

 the Cincinnati group. — Nature. 



CoNVOLUTA ScHULTZll. — An important line of demarcation 

 between the vegetable and animal world has been removed by 

 recent investigation. Plants assimilate carbonic acid, give ofi' 

 oxygen, and form starch. By experiments on a species of Plan- 

 aria, a flat worm, described as Convoluta Schultzii, Mr. P. 

 Geddes has demonstrated that that animal disengages oxygen in 

 large quantity, decomposes carbonic acid, and produces starch. 

 This worm abounds in the shallow water on the margin of the 

 sea, and on exposure to sunlight pours forth a stream of bubbles 

 containing, as proved by analysis, from forty-five to fifty-five per 

 cent, of oxygen. And on subjecting a number of Planaria to 

 chemical treatment, a quantity of ordinary vegetable starch was 

 obtained. Pointing out the significance of these facts in the 

 Proceedings of the Royal Society, 3Ir. Geddes says: ' As the 

 Drosera and Diona^a [two species of well-known vegetable Fly- 

 traps], which have attracted so much attention of late years, 

 have received the striking name of Carnivorous Plants, these 

 Planarians may not unfairly be called Vegetating Animals, for 

 the one case is the precise reciprocal of the other. Not only 

 does the Dionwa imitate the carnivorous animal, and the Con- 

 voluta the ordinary green plant, but each tends to lose its own 

 normal character.' — Chambers s Journal. 



