INVEBTEBRATA, CRYPTOGAMIA, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 559 



Habits and Intelligence of Vespa maculata.*— This hornet is, 

 according to Mr. Meehan, gifted with great intelligence; on one occa- 

 sion he observed one with a summer locust several times its own size, 

 endeavouring to rise with it from the ground, but failed from the great 

 weight of the locust. It then walked with its prey about thirty feet 

 to a tall maple, which it ascended to the top, and then flew oflf with 

 its burden in a horizontal direction. There was more than instinct 

 in this act. There was reasoning on certain facts and judgment 

 accordingly. 



Observations on Peripatus.f— Mr. F. M. Balfour, of Cambridge, 

 has lately made some observations on this animal, the discovery of 

 whose tracheal system is, as he justly points out, " one of the most 

 interesting results obtained by the naturalists of the ' Challenger.' " 



Describing the segmental organs which, thoiigh noticed by Grube 

 and by Saenger, are not mentioned by Mr. Moseley, he states that he 

 has found them in all segments of the body, except the first two or 

 three post-oral ; placed at the bases of the feet, each organ, when 

 fully developed, consists of (1) a dilated vesicle opening externally 

 at the base of a foot, (2) a coiled glandular portion, and (3) a short 

 terminal portion, which, as he believes, opens into the body cavity ; 

 they are further stated to resemble more nearly those of the leech than 

 those of any other form with which the author is acquainted. The 

 oesophageal commissures are shown to form what must be regarded 

 as suboesophageal ganglia, which give off large nerves to the oral 

 papillae ; on their ventral side the ventral nerve cords are covered by 

 a thick ganglionic layer, and at each pair of feet dilate into a distinct 

 ganglionic swelling; from each of ttese there is given off a pair of 

 large nerves to the feet, and the swellings of the two nerve cords are 

 connected by a pair of commissures containing ganglion cells. This 

 observation is of great interest and importance, inasmuch as it 

 has been hitherto stated that there were no ganglia in the ventral 

 commissures of Peripatus ; in other points also, as for instance in the 

 fact that the nervous system lies between the circular and longitudinal 

 muscles of the body, and is not " in proximity with the skin," there 

 are signs of the organization of the nervous system being of a high 

 character. 



Mr. Balfour also states that he believes that he has evidence 

 of a paired sympathetic system. The organ which, with some 

 doubt, was regarded by Moseley as a fat-body, is now shown to be 

 a glandular tube, which opens into the mouth ; not the same as the 

 slime-glands, it " may perhaps be best compared with the simple 

 salivary gland of Julus," and if it be homologous with this structure, 

 its presence is of interest as showing that in Peripatus, as in the 

 Tracheata, there are true salivary glands. 



Basilica Spider and her Snare.J — The Rev. H. C. McCook, in an 

 interesting paper, describes the snare of a spider which he observed 



* 'Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.,' 1878, p. 15. 



t ' Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc.,' in. vL 



X ' Proc. Acad. Nat. Scl Phila.,' 1878, p. 124. 



2 p 2 



