395 



sich an der Nahrungsaufnahme nicht betheiligen. Erst mit dem Er- 

 scheinen meiner Oscarella- Arbeit kam die ältere bereits von Carter 

 und Metschnikoff vertretene Ansicht, daß die Kragenzellen vor- 

 zugsweise die nahrungsaufnehmenden Elemente der Spongien sind, 

 wieder mehr zur Geltung. Daher haben sich auch später sowohl 

 Metschnikoffio als auch Hatschek'i auf mich hinsichtlich dieser 

 Frage bezogen. Was ich in meiner Oscarella- Arbeit in Kurzem als das 

 Eesultat meiner Fütterungsversuche an jungen Oscarelleti angegeben 

 hatte (pag. 53), wurde später von v. Lenden feld für zahlreiche 

 Spongien bestätigt. An dieser Stelle hätte meine Oscar ella -Arbeit 

 jedenfalls Erwähnung finden müssen. 



II. Mittheilungen aus Museen, Instituten etc. 



Linnean Society of New South Wales. 



July 25th, 1894. (Schluß.) — Examination of the poison showed it to 

 consist principally of albuminous bodies, and the introduction of these into 

 rabbits produced very marked poisonous results. When injected under the 

 skin, local swelling, and great general depression and rise of temperature 

 followed , but in three days the animal was well again. When the poison 

 was introduced directly into the vascular system, small quantities (Y3 grain) 

 caused death in under half an hour. Larger doses so introduced produced 

 almost immediate death, by producing nearly universal clotting of the blood 

 whilst travelling in the blood vessels. Such clotting naturally soon put an 

 end to all circulation. In summing up the authors compare the action of 

 Platypus poison with that of the venom of Australian snakes, supposing the 

 latter to be diluted 5000 times. — 2) Notes on Australian »Shipworms«. 

 By C. Hedley, F.L.S. A large species of »Shipworm« or »Cobra« from 

 South Australia, perhaps the largest yet discovered, is described and figured 

 under the title of Teredo edax. The type of T. antarctica, Hutton, from New 

 Zealand is also figured to demonstrate that the supposed recognition of this 

 species from the coast of Queensland was erroneous. The literature relating 

 to Australian »shipworms« is reviewed. — 3) On five interesting Shields 

 from Northern Queensland. By R. Etheridge, Junr., Palaeontologist to 

 the Australian Museum , and Geological Survey of N. S. Wales. — 4) Ad- 

 ditional Notes on the Palaeontology of Queensland. Part I. Palaeozoic. By 

 R. Etheridge, Junr., Palaeontologist to the Australian Museum, and Geo- 

 logical Survey of N. S. Wales. — Mr. Froggatt exhibited a collection of 

 Coleoptera from Coolgardie and the Fraser Range, W.A., comprising fifteen 

 species of Stigniodera and two of Cetonia. — Mr. A. H. Lucas exhibited 

 specimens of Typhlops from Castlemaine , Victoria, and from Queensland. 

 — Mr. Brazier exhibited a curved specimen of Knphus arenarius , Linné, 

 19 inches long, with a septum at the smaller end, diameter of the larger 

 end 1 Y4 inch ; also portion of another specimen with a diameter of 2 ^j^ in- 



10 E. Metschnikoff, Embryologische Studien an Medusen. "Wien. 1886. 

 p. 141. 



'1 B. Hatschek, Lehrbuch der Zoologie, p. 153. 



