NOTES AND MEMOEANDA. 273 



cramp of tlie dilator of the tube, and holds it proof that a closure is 

 needed to exclude sounds from within. In the fourth, Herr Weber 

 describes the structure and attachments of the tensor tympani, with 

 some new points. He thinks the muscle consists in nearly its whole 

 length of three separate strands. Owing to the narrowness of the 

 canal, the edges are rolled spirally around each other, and this gives 

 it the appearance of a spindle-formed muscle. In the last. Dr. Eued- 

 inger distinguishes in the membranous canals of the labyrinth four 

 layers — (1) the connective-tissue layer, (2) the hyaline tunica propria, 

 (3) the papilla-formed projections, (4) the epithelium. 



NOTES AND MEMOEANDA. 



The Position of the Brachiopoda. — One of the finest papers that 

 we have ever seen is that which Professor Edward Morse has kindly 

 sent us, and which we shall notice more fully in a succeeding number. 

 It is upon the systematic j)Ositiou of the Brachiopoda, and extends 

 over sixty pages of small type, and has seven capital illustrations. 

 The author aims at showing that the true position of these animals is 

 among the Vermes, not with the Mollusca. And we may as well 

 confess that he has done a deal towards convincing us of the accuracy 

 of his view. 



Who First Examined the Diatomaceae ? — This question has been 

 recently answered by Professor H. L. Smith, the well-known Ame- 

 rican Diatomist. He says, in the last number of the ' Lens,' that 

 for the first discovery of forms belonging here, which are in some 

 measure given with certainty, we have to thank O, F. Mtiller, who 

 described and figured a Gomphonema in 1773 as Vorticella pyraria, and 

 in 1783 a Fragilaria as Conferva pectinalis, also a Melosira as Conferva 

 armillaris. A much greater sensation was made by the discovery of 

 the so-called staff animalcules ( Vibrio paxillifer) by Midler, and which 

 the discoverer, at first, did not know where to classify, but later em- 

 bodied it in the genus Vibrio, in his large work on Infusorife. 



Professor Onimus on Septicaemia. — In the ' Medical Eecord ' for 

 November 19th Professor Onimus is severely taken to task by the 

 editor of that journal for " his complete ignorance of the work 

 already done in the same direction by others." The article is worthy 

 of attention. 



Experiments on Potato Blight. — These have been conducted 

 recently by Mr. T. Taylor, of Washington, and are of some imj)or- 

 tance. He says that in four glass jars he placed a pint of water. In 

 No. 1 were placed a portion of fungus, Peronospora infestans, and the 

 half of an Ohio potato remarkable for its healthy appearance. In 

 No. 2 were placed a diseased potato, containing Peronospiora infestans, 

 and the half of a potato I'eceived from Santa F6, New Mexico. In 

 No. 3 was placed the second half of th e Ohio potato alluded to, and in 



