Observations on Notommata Wernechii. By Prof. Balbiani 541 



the observations of M. Chautard* and M. Felix Plateau,t that 

 chlorophyll is not an assimilable substance. 



The animalcule lays its eggs inside the capsule, without any 

 regularity, either singly or in groups amidst the green matter. It 

 then dies, leaving no vestige but the black mass (Fig. 18, ms), and 

 between the laying and hatching of the eggs the capsule begins to 

 decompose, the chlorophyll loses its homogeneousness (Fig. 18) and 

 colour, and the eggs hatch from ten to fifteen days after being laid. 

 The Notommata forthwith anxiously seeks an issue from the 

 capsule. 



We have seen that under the influence of the parasite the small 

 lateral branches of Vaueheria, which bear the reproductive organs, 

 instead of becoming atrophied, after the fulfilment of their func- 

 tions, are hypertrophied to four or five times their normal size. 

 I think that this arises from a stimulation, caused by the secre- 

 tion of an acrid liquid, of the same nature as that which forms galls 

 on phanerogamous plants, fr-^r^ the bite of insects, which introduce 

 into the plant a liquid secreted by the salivary glands. These 

 glands exist also in Notommata, at least I so consider the appen- 

 dages of the digestive tube which open into the pharynx (Fig. 2, ^ s) 

 Their relatively considerable size, compared to that of the organs to 

 which some authors have attributed an analogous signification in 

 other rotifers,! seems to indicate that they are destined to fulfil 

 special and important functions in this species These glands are 

 also largely developed in the gall insects. 



The parasitic excrescences on Vaueheria presant another ana- 

 logy with certain galls of the higher plants, in being the seat of 

 a vegetative development which gives rise to the formation on 

 different points of their surface of filaments filled with green 

 matter. They are rarely found at the base, the summit being 

 their more usual position. In the latter case, the upper part of the 

 capsule begins to flatten, and to take an angular form ; then at each 

 of the angles a protuberance is formed, into which the plasmic 

 matter penetrates (Fig. 16, xx). The capsular wall becomes 

 considerably thinner at the culminating point of the protuberance, 

 which continuing to elongate becomes a green filament (Fig. 17, 

 h a), which is often many times the length of the capsule. Some 

 bifurcate, some curve upwards like horns, and others take a hori- 

 zontal or oblique position. 



It frequently happens that instead of throwing out filaments the 

 excrescence becomes perforated at its summit, thus forming a com- 

 munication between the inside of the capsule and the surrounding 



* ' Comptcs Rendus,' 1873, vols. Ixxvi. p. 103, Ixxvii. p. 597. 



t ' Recherches sur les Phdnomenes de la Digestion chez les Insectes,' 1874, 

 pp.56, 119. 



t ' Zeitschr. wiss. Zool.,' vol. vi. p. 73 ; Cohn, ibid., vol. vii. p. 475 ; Mobius, 

 ibid., vol. XXV. p. 110. 



VOL, II, 2 () 



