Ripon FACTS. 
Pump Bentuos. W. P. Hay. ‘Description of a new species of subter- 
ranean Isopod,” Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xxi. 1899, pp. 871-872, pl. Ixxxvi. 
Forty or fifty specimens were obtained from an old well in Irvington, Marion 
County, Indiana. They were evidently strictly aquatic. The pump in the well 
drew water from the bottom, and the animals could be obtained only by 
vigorous work. After capture they lived for some hours in a jar of water, 
crawling about on the bottom, very much after the manner of Ased/us. While 
in the water the swimming feet gently moved up and down with a fanlike 
motion. Several of the females carried eggs, six or eight of which were sufficient 
to fill the brood pouch. The species is named Haplophthalmus puteus. Other 
species of the genus are inhabitants of moist situations, such as decaying leaves 
and wood, in various localities in Europe. It is also closely related to Seypha- 
cella (Haplophthalmus ?) arenicola, which has been found burrowing in the sand 
in a number of localities along the Atlantic coast of North America. 
A ZootocicaL Puzzie. Witit1amM Morton WHEELER. ‘The Life-history 
of Dicyema,” Zool. Anzerg. xxii. 1899, pp. 169-176. The author’s observations 
suggest a new conception of the life-history of Dicyema, which has been for a 
long time a zoological puzzle. He believes that the same Dicyema is at first a 
““nematogen” (or female produced from parthenogenetic ova and producing 
other females parthenogenetically), and then a “‘rhombogen” (producing what 
are called infusiform embryos which arise from fertilised ova and are really 
males). ‘As in so many other cases in the animal and vegetable kingdoms the 
males make their appearance when the conditions of life become unfavourable, 
viz. after the kidney (of Octopus) is well-peopled with Dicyemids and food is 
less abundant.” Mr. Wheeler believes that the structural and developmental 
peculiarities of the Dicyemids entitle them to a more independent rank than 
that of an appendix to the flat-worms. 
How Youne Duckmotes Get Mink. V. Sixra. “Wie junge Ornitho- 
rhynchi die Milch ihrer Mutter saugen,” Zool. Anzeig. xxii. 1899, pp. 241-246. 
Prof. Sixta has been informed by Alois Topit, who lived for many years in 
Australia, that the mother duckmole lies down on her back, and that the two 
young ones press the milk out through the sieve-like apertures with their bills. 
The milk flows into a median groove which is formed by the longitudinal 
muscles. Until they are 12 cms. in length the young remain in the nest ; when 
they measure 20 cms. they are taken by the mother into the water. 
SMELL IN Birps. XAVIER Raspatu. ‘Le sens de l’odorat chez les oiseaux.” 
Bull, Soc. Zool. France, xxiv. 1899, pp. 92-102. It is a common statement 
that while nocturnal birds have a fine sense of smell, the diurnal birds of prey 
are guided solely by sight. Indeed, in many good zoological works, the sense 
of smell in birds is said to be almost nil. Against this, Raspail protests 
vigorously, and cites his observations on rooks, magpies, and blackbirds, which 
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