790 RECORD OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



and convey the contents into a wide-moutlied bottle, &c., which will, 

 in most cases, indicate .whether there is anything worth further trial, 

 though it often happens that repeated trials afford good results in the 

 same jilace where they had failed to be seen by the first inspection. 

 The Ostracoda generally withdraw within their shells and become 

 motionless when alarmed, and are difficult to be seen in this state 

 among the debris of the gathering ; but where they do exist, more or 

 less of them come to the surface, and are readily detected in an open 

 vessel, but equally as well and more easily by examining the contents 

 of the net when the water is well pressed out. To have the full 

 benefit of the gathering, it is necessary to take some of the mud, 

 which in most cases can be readily procured by scraping the sides or 

 bottom of the pool with the ring of the net. 



The mode of preservation is shortly dealt with, as Ostracoda 

 require no sjjecial appliances for preservation so far as the shell is 

 concerned, further than allowing them to dry ; but when the animals 

 are wished to be preserved, alcohol, with the addition of a little 

 glycerine, is preferable. 



Blind Crustacean.* — M. A. Milne-Edwards has a note on a 

 blind species of the genus Nephrojms which was found at a depth of 

 1500 metres in the Gulf of Florida. The eyes, which are situated 

 just above the internal antennfe, form small tubercles without cornesB ; 

 so far the species [N. Agassizii) resembles the N. Stewarti described 

 by Wood-Mason, but it differs from it in the greater development of 

 the rostrum which is armed with two pairs of lateral spines, by the 

 number of tubercles on its carapace, and by the form of the first five 

 abdominal rings. From the extremity of the rostrum to the end of 

 the tail the new species measures • 055 metre ; the integument is 

 completely colourless. 



Vermes. 



Annelids of the Norwegian North Sea Expedition.! — Fifty-five 

 sj)ecies are enumerated by G. A. Hansen from the collections ob- 

 tained by this expedition, among which there are 4 new species of 

 Polynoe (P, assimilis, sjnnulosa, foraminifera, and glaberrima), a new 

 Phyllodoce (P. arctica), a new Brada (B. granulosa), and three new 

 TropJioniai (arctica, horealis, rugosa), in all 9 new forms out of the 55. 

 Spinther arcticus is figured, apparently for the first time. Polynoe 

 glaberrima bears much resemblance to Lcenilla glabra Ingr., but the 

 palps are quite smooth, the tentacular cirrhi are shorter than the 

 palps ; instead of two bristles at the base of the tentacles, a single 

 spine occurs. The new species of Phyllodoce bears most resemblance 

 to P. mucosa, differing from it chiefly in the number of the papillae 

 on its prostomium. 



New Genus of the Archiannelides.;!: — Under the name of Pro- 

 todrilus Leuclmrti, Dr. Hatschek describes an interesting new form 

 which he found near Messina. As it is more simple even than Pohj- 



* ' Ann. Sci. Nat.,' ix. (1S80), Art. 2. 



t ' Nyt Mag. Naturvid.,' xxv. (1880) p. 224 (5 plates). 



i ' Claus's Arbeiten,' iii. (1880) p. 79. 



