34 6 NOTES AND COMMENTS [may 



the last put on record is that of an earthworm regenerating a tail in 

 place of a head. We are wrong, however, in calling this a fresh fact, 

 for it was observed by Spallanzani in 1768, and is now confirmed by 

 Professor T. H. Morgan (Anat. Anzeig. 1899, xv. pp. 407-410, 9 figs.). 

 We have often admired the " expeditiousness " of American workers, 

 but when Mr. Morgan tells us that he began in October 1899 a 

 new series of experiments, we cannot help regarding it as a little 

 '•' previous." 



In the cases observed many segments were regenerated from the 

 anterior end of a posterior half of a worm, and the new part was a 

 tail, not a head. Sections showed that there was no brain, and that 

 the ventral cord extended into the last (youngest) segments of the new 

 part. Moreover, to the objection that such parts might subsequently 

 develop a brain at the distal end, Mr. Morgan answers that the nephro- 

 stomes in the new part are turned backwards, that is towards the old part, 

 and the main part of the nephridial tube lies in the segment distal to 

 the one containing the nephrostome. Therefore what is produced is 

 a worm with two tails turned in opposite directions. It is, if that 

 makes any one any wiser, a case of heteromorphosis. 



Regeneration in Starfishes. 



Many naturalists have made observations on the regenerative power 

 of starfishes, but Miss Helen Dean King has advanced our knowledge 

 of the subject by precise experiments (Arch. Entwichmech. 1898, vii. 

 pp. 351-363, 1 pi.). As Professor Weismann's recent essay has 

 focussed the subject, and as it is important to test his theory by 

 reference to all known cases, it is appropriate here to summarise Miss 

 King's chief conclusions in regard to Asterias vulgaris. New arms 

 develop only from the disc ; an isolated arm must have at least a fifth 

 of the disc if regeneration is to occur ; the aboral surface of the disc 

 may be regenerated ; the ventral portion of an arm can regenerate the 

 dorsal surface, but the reverse does not seem to occur. If a starfish 

 is cut in two, each half may regenerate the whole, but there is no 

 evidence that this occurs in natural conditions ; moreover, two halves 

 of different individuals made be made to unite. In general, we get 

 the impression that the regenerative capacity in the starfish is well 

 adapted to cover the ordinary contingencies of life and a good deal 

 more. 



An Alpine Paradise. 



Me. H. J. Elwes, in an interesting paper on the zoology and botany of 

 the Altai mountains (Journ. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) 1899, xxvii. pp. 23-46, 



