408 



behind forwards, due to the movement of the setose or flat limbs immedia- 

 tely behind the mouth. Prof. Claus has shown, that in Daphnia these limbs 

 have a respiratory function, while this animal also possesses a well marked 

 anal respiration. 



In a paper »On the genus Solanocrinns Goldfuß, and its relations to re- 

 cent Comatulae« Mr. P. H. Carpenter arrived at the following conclusions: 

 — 1) In all the Jurassic and in some of the Cretaceous Comatulae the basais 

 are the embryonic basais which have undergone no further modification than 

 those of many Pentacrinus species. Their relative size is reduced, as they do 

 not quite separate the radiais from the top stem-joint, even when they appear 

 externally, which is not always the case, both individuals and species varying 

 greatly in this respect. 2) In all the recent Comatulae and many Tertiary 

 and Cretaceous species the embryonic basais undergo an extensive modifica- 

 tion I'esulting in the formation of a rosette. In many cases basal rays ex- 

 tend outwards from this, and may appear externally; but they are only ana- 

 logous, and not in any way homologous to the true basais of the older 

 Comatulae. 3) Most Pentacrini have a more or less complete circlet of basais 

 separating the top stem-joint either partially or wholly from the radial pen- 

 tagon. But in some few^ fossil forms there are no external basais, as may also 

 be the case in Encrinus. 4) The variations in the development of the basais 

 are useless as generic distinctions; Schlüter, therefore, was perfectly justi- 

 fied in uniting Solaiiocri?ius with Antedon. He does the same with Comaster, 

 though from Goldfuß' description of this type it appears to Mr. Carpenter to 

 difi'er so much from all other Comatulae that he prefers to regard it as gene- 

 rically distinct. — J. Murie. 



Die Schweizer Naturforscher-Versammlung findet in diesem Jahre vom 

 12. — 15. September in Brieg (Canton Wallis) statt. 



Die Versammlung deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte findet vom 18. bis 

 24. September in Danzig statt. Siehe Inserat der Beilage. 



IV. Personal-Notizen. 



N e c r ! g. 



Ende Mai starb in Utrecht Gerh. Joh. Mulder, Professor der Chemie 

 daselbst, dessen Name durch die von ihm zuerst dargestellten und sogenannten 

 Proteïnsubstanzen in dankbarer Erinnerung mit den sich hieran knüpfenden 

 Fortschritten der Physiologie des Lebens verknüpft bleiben wird. Er war 

 am 27. Dee. 1802 in Utrecht geboren. 



Am 13. Juli starb in London Mr. W. A. Lloyd, dessen Intelligenz 

 und Energie die Technik der Aquarien Avesentliche Fortschritte verdankt, 

 fünfundsechzig Jahre alt. 



Am 18. Juli starb in Cambridge, Mass., Count Louis Franc, de Pour- 

 talès, Keeper of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, in seinem 58. Jahre. 



Druck von Breitkopf und Harte) in Leipzig. 



