177 



in water. I mean pnrticularly the land Planaria. There is 

 hardly an aniiDal that is more suited to live in water tlinn the 

 Planariii with their delicate epidermis, their fine cilia and their 

 scift parencliym, one would think that if th»-y adapt themselves 

 to the land tliey must, lead a miserable and unconifort.MljIe 

 existence, and he unable to produce large and strong forms ; but 

 this is not the case in Trinidad where land planaria are found 

 of about 20 c.ni. in lengtii and 1 cm. b'oad, and these are not 

 uncommon. All the land Planaria are nocturnal, hiding 

 themselves under fallen leaves, among moss, etc., where they 

 find the necessary moisture during the heat of the day. They 

 setm to require the dew to be able to crawl ab'ut at night. 

 Their food consists of animals that lead the same life as they do, 

 and small snails (Subnlinae) are generally the victims ^■i' their 

 raven-'us appetite. It is very interesting to see how these poor 

 Suhulinae are demolished. The planaria envelopes the shell of 

 the snail with its body, the snail of course retires, as it thinks, 

 into safety, but the intruder puts the opening of his mouth into 

 the opening of the shell and a lively play of his protruded 

 pliarynx commences, which can be distinctly seen through the 

 thin she'l of the snail. The pharynx makes quick sucking 

 movements, in which act it opei.s and shuts. But as the 

 Planaria cannot .-uck out and swa low the snail in this manner, 

 it simply digests its victim outside of its body by means of a 

 secretion from the intestine and then sucks in the juice that is 

 thus prepared. An average sized Planaria takes ab'iut half an 

 hour to eat a Suhulinae. The pharynx can be protruded into 

 the most narrow spiral of the shell so that it is lei't clean and 

 intact after such a repast. 



INSTITUTE OP JAMAICA— NOTES PKOM THE 

 MUSEUM (NO. 36.) 



Scale-Insects Desthoyed by a Fungus, 



T. D. A. CocKEKELL, F.L.S.. F E.S., 



It has been known for a long time that certain fungi are 

 to be found on scale insects, instances of this kind being re- 

 ported from Kngland, North America. New Guinea and New 

 Zealand. Sometimes it is obvious that the I'ungus only grows 

 on the scale after it is dead, and is in no way instrumental in 

 killing it : but in other cases this is more doubtful, and 



