428 Miscellaneous. 



Gopturus eximius. 



C. ovatus, ater, prothorace supra (medio excepto) elytrisque plaga 

 magna tripartita coecineis ; femoribus infra bidentatis, posticis 

 valde elongatis. Long. 3 lin. 



Hab. Columbia. 



Ovate, jet-black, with bright scarlet patches on the pro- 

 thorax and elytra ; rostrum elongate, slender, broader towards 

 the tip, glossy brown ; antenna? fulvous, scape short, funicle 

 long, the second joint twice as long as the first ; prothorax 

 transverse, rounded at the base, a black spot in the middle, 

 and the sides black, the rest covered with scarlet scales ; 

 scutellum black ; elytra rather shorter, broadly rounded at 

 the apex, punctate-striate, a broad scarlet band rather behind 

 the middle and continued anteriorly along the suture to the 

 base ; sides of the sterna, second and third abdominal seg- 

 ments closely covered with yellow scales ; femora slender, 

 sinuate beneath, and in the sinus two teeth, the proximal by 

 far the largest ; posterior femora very long, their tibia? at the 

 apex, and tarsi, except the last joint, ochraceous, claws ful- 

 vous ; pectoral canal extending to the intermediate coxa?. 



This beautiful species is remarkable for its long posterior 

 femora, which extend for more than half their length beyond 

 the elytra. The pectoral canal extends to the anterior border 

 of the metasternum. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



On the Origin and Development of the Ovum in Encope before 

 Fecundation. By M. C. Merejkowsky. 



The ovaries of the Medusa, arranged in the interior of the bell, 

 have the appearance of four little sacs, produced by an evagination 

 of the gastrovascular cavity. In the walls of the ovaries, from 

 without inwards, we find a layer of ectodermic cells, the limits of 

 which are not well defined, and the entoderm composed of several 

 layers of better-defined cells. The innermost layer of the ento- 

 derm, that which covers the inner surface of the ovary, is composed 

 of the same cells (furnished with a vibratile cilium) as the ento- 

 derm of the radial canals. 



Towards the base of the ovary, where it becomes confounded 

 with the lower surface of the bell, the entodermic layer is as yet 

 only formed of a single stratum, as in the radial canal ; but in 

 proportion as we advance towards the interior of the ovary, we see 

 the entodermic cells divide in a direction perpendicular to their 

 length, and thus form two superposed layers of entoderm ; the 



