264 



described are the Dififerentiator and the Suction-capsule. The first of these, 

 designed to obviate the annoying and destructive contractions which so often 

 present themselves in the processes of killing and preserving delicate orga- 

 nisms, has already been described in the ,, Report of the British Association 

 Meeting of 1889", and in the ,, American Naturalist" of August, 1889; but 

 since then improvements have been made which render a new description 

 with illustrations desirable. The Suction-capsule was devised to aid in solv- 

 ing the difficult and important problems connected with the development in 

 the human alimentary canal of the eggs and larvae of internal parasites ; it 

 is made from thin glass tubing of 2 — 5 mm external diameter ; the ova to 

 be experimented on are introduced through an aperture which is afterwards 

 stopped with soluble glue, and the capsule is then partially exhausted. "WTien 

 such capsules are swallowed, the glue is dissolved and the gastric fluids are 

 sucked in, the ova therefore being subjected to the action of such fluids 

 under normal conditions. By suitable means the capsules with the contained 

 embryos may be recovered after any desired interval, — 4) On the Larvae 

 of Oxyuris vermicularis hatched under normal conditions in the human Sto- 

 mach. By N. A. Cobb, Ph. D. By swallowing suction-capsules charged 

 with the ova or unhatched larvae of Oxyuris vermicularis, the common pin- 

 worm or threadworm infesting man, and subsequently recovering them after 

 periods of about 7 and 12 hours' sojourn in the alimentary canal, the author 

 has succeeded in obtaining supplies of material which have enabled him to 

 supply some important lacunae in our knowledge of the life-history of this 

 one of the oldest known human parasites. Details of the experiments are 

 given, and the anatomical characters of the newly hatched larvae are discussed 

 in detail, more particularly in the case of the excretory organs. — 5) On 

 Promecoderus and allied Genera. By T. G. Sloane. The author divides the 

 Australian Broscini into two groups, namely (I.), those with the postorbital 

 cicatrix not very distinct, and (II.) those with the postorbital cicatrix distinct. 

 Three genera, comprising 48 species, belonging to the second group are 

 treated of, namely, Promecoderus 40 species, (seven of which are proposed 

 as new), CerotaUs 5 species, (one new), and Adotela 14 species, (three new). 

 — Mr. A. Sidney Olliff exhibited some Scale-insects or Coccididae which 

 had been sent to him by Mr. H. Goss, through the kind intervention of 

 Mr. J. W. Douglas. The insects were from Natal — where they had been 

 found on Acacia melanoxylon and Grevillea robusta, introduced Australian 

 trees — and were the same as those exhibited at the May Meeting of the 

 Entomological Society of London in 1889. Mr, Douglas had expressed the 

 opinion that these insects belong to the Brachyscelidae, a family of gall- 

 making Coccids, suggesting, however, that some entomologist in Australia 

 might, from local knowledge, be able to say something more definite con- 

 cerning them. Mr, OUifi" said that it appeared to him that the insects were 

 certainly not Brachyscelids as those insects, both males and females, live 

 within woody galls on various species of Eucalyptus, whereas it appeared that 

 the specimens received from Mr. Douglas were true chitinous ,, scales", 

 probably those of the adult female Coccids. — Mr. Froggatt exhibited 

 specimens of a small moth (Fam. Tineidae) obtained from a tin of cayenne 

 pepper bought in Sydney, on which the larvae were found to be feeding and 

 subsequently pupating. 



Druck von Breitltopf & Härtel in Leipzig. 



