142 NATURAL SCIENCE. Feb., 



remains of an earlier fauna disappearing rapidly before the 

 conquering host of the recent fauna, which had invaded New Zealand 

 some time previously ; and if this idea is correct we might expect to 

 find some of the Pliocene forms, which are now extinct on the shores 

 of New Zealand, still lingering in the outlying islands." This 

 appears to be the case, but further investigation is necessary. We 

 hope that the four plates accompanying the paper will be more 

 satisfying to the eye of the conchologist than they are to that of the 

 artist. 



Professor W. A. Haswell monographs the Temnocephalese, a 

 peculiar group of worms parasitic on the outer surfaces of many kinds 

 of water animals, to which they adhere by a sucker. Like those of most 

 parasitic forms, the affinities of this group are hard to determine. 

 The author concludes that they are probably Trematode rather than 

 Turbellarian, although he sees little reason against regarding them 

 as aberrant Rhabdocoelous Turbellaria, specially modified for a 

 peculiar mode of life. Mr. Haswell also describes, as Actinodactylus, 

 a new genus of flatworm, found on the burrowing crayfish of Gipps- 

 land ; its most remarkable feature is a retractile proboscis. This 

 author's seven plates, drawn by himself, are both clear and 

 artistic. 



Professor T. J. Parker and Josephine Gordon Rich describe the 

 muscles of the New Zealand sea crayfish (Palimmis edivardsi), a 

 piece of work that should prove of service to Australasian students 

 of the Crustacea. Their chief conclusion of general importance is 

 that " the great ventral mass of muscle in the abdomen, usually 

 considered to act exclusively as a flexor, gives rise to slips which, 

 being inserted into the terga of the segments above the hinges, 

 and pulling in an almost horizontal direction, must act as extensors." 

 The drawings are remarkably clear. 



In the course of two papers, Messrs. J. T. Wilson and C. J. 

 Martin show that the name "duck-bill" as applied to Ornithorhynchus 

 is somewhat erroneous, since the muzzle of that animal is neither 

 horny nor even leathery, but covered with a soft skin, like that of a 

 dog's nose, richly supplied with sensitive organs of touch. The object 

 of this is evident when we remember that the animal usually procures 

 its food by raking away in the mud at the bottom of rivers for small 

 larvae, shell-fish, insects, and worms. The snout is supported by 

 cartilage, which the authors regard as a persistent prolongation of 

 the embryonic cartilaginous skull. The papers are illustrated by 

 five plates containing some excellent micro-photographs. 



Professor R. Tate endeavours to show, from an examination of 

 the floras, that Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands are connected with 

 the New Zealand rather than the Australian region, a conclusion that 

 harmonises with the results obtained from the birds and land-shells. 



Mr. R. Etheridge, jun., contributes an interesting description of 

 some of the implements and weapons of the Alligator tribe. 

 Port Errington, N. Australia, which were sent to the Chicago 

 Exhibition. 



Eighty-two species of Nematode worms, mostly Australian and 

 Fijian, are described by Mr. N. A. Cobb. About half the species are 

 new, and considerable attention is paid to anatomical details. Many 

 of these worms are hurtful to vegetation, and the paper may, there- 

 fore, prove of economic importance ; otherwise it contains little of 

 general interest. 



The volume also contains notes by Baron von Miiller, Mr. J. H. 



