296 NATURAL SCIENCE. May. 



septum, " through which the greater number of the nerve-fibrils pass 

 near the centre"; the fibrils are continuous with the filamentous ends 

 of the rod and ganglion cells. 



Mr. Schreiner doubts whether the glittering ' argentea ' or ' tape- 

 tum,' against which the tips of the rods rest, is, when the adult stage 

 is reached, in any way a cellular structure. The same difficulty 

 arises as to the pigment. Among those who have studied it — 

 Biitschli, Carriere, Hensen, Hickson, Patten, and Rawitz being the 

 foremost — Hickson stands alone in maintaining the pigment-mass to 

 be non-cellular. This is, in fact, the case, according to Schreiner, in 

 Pecten maximus, which Hickson examined, and also in P. islandiciis. 

 In these forms the pigment is a brown-red fluid ; but in other cases 

 investigated the pigment-layer is distinctly cellular. 



With regard to the interesting problem presented by what is 

 called the inversion of the eye, i.e., the turning of the retinal cells 

 away from the light, the author looks only to the study of its develop- 

 ment for a solution. 



Mr. Schreiner concludes that the eyes of Pecten are true eyes. 

 He will have nothing to say to their being ' heliophags ' or energy- 

 absorbers, as suggested by Patten. He rejects, moreover, the inter- 

 pretation of Rawitz, who has supposed that the numerous eyes all act 

 together like the ocelli of a compound eye. 



On the edge of the mantle in Lima excavata are some very simple 

 eyes. They are nothing more than open pits, irregularly filled by 

 masses of slime, and are thus of no small importance in the compara- 

 tive study of visual organs. 



Archeology at Bergen. 



Papers no. vii., ix., and xv. of the same Year-book refer to recent 

 acquisitions by the Bergen Museum. The first, by G. Gustafson, 

 deals with the pre-Reformation relics acquired in 1895, including 

 several grave-finds of early and late Iron Age, important additions to 

 the already fine series of grave-finds in the museum. The second, by 

 B. E. Benedixen, describes some interesting additions to the 

 Mediaeval collection : a painted panel of 14th century date, from 

 the church at Lyster, and a second panel from the church at Eid in 

 the Romsdal, probably of early 14th century date, and differing in 

 style from the other. A fine piece of gold and red textile work is 

 described, with a coloured plate, its provenance being Roldal Church 

 in the Hardanger district, also a handsome bronze candelabrum sur- 

 mounted by a figure of the Virgin (Mutter-gottesleuchter) from 

 Kinservik, probably of German make, c. 1500. The third memoir, 

 also by Mr. Gustafson, treats of an important find of silver coins and 

 ornaments, including over 400 coins of ^Ethelraed, Knut, Sigtryg 

 and others. 



For the sake of completeness we may mention here an elaborate 



