190 



NATURE 



[_Dec. 22, 1887 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science for November 

 1887 (volume xxviil. part 2) contains the following papers : — 

 On the development of Peripahis novce-zealandia, by Lilian 

 Sheldon, Bathurst Student, Newnham College, Cambridge. 

 (Plates 12 to 16.) The ripe ova are large when compared to 

 those of P. capensis or P. edwa7-dsii, measuring about i "5 mm. 

 in their long axis ; this size seems due to the enormous amount 

 of food-yolk with which the eggs are charged ; the segmentation 

 is on the centrolecithal type ; the protoplasm is in the form of a 

 reticulum ; there are no traces of cell outlines. The various 

 stages, from a want of material, were not in all cases noted, 

 but the authoress with great ability traces many stages of the 

 development of the embryo, until that in which the food 

 material is completely absorbed, so that the embryo lies just 

 within the vitelline membrane and egg shell. We trust that 

 she will continue her investigations as fresh specimens are 

 obtained, until she is enabled to write the whole life-history of 

 this very interesting form. — On some points in the anatomy of 

 Folychaeta, by J. T. Cunningham, (Plates 17 to 19.) This 

 paper gives the results of some investigations into certain Poly- 

 chaete structures ; on the nephridia and gonads, with a criticism 

 of Cosmovici's paper on the " Glandes genitales et Organes 

 segmentaires des Annelides Polychetes " ; on the cardiac body, 

 and on the neural canals. — On Temnocephala, an aberrant mono- 

 genetic Trematode, by William A. Hasweli. (Plates 20 to 22.) 

 Four species were found ; one, Temn. nova-zealandioe, found on 

 Paranephrops seiosus, from rivers of New Zealand ; a second, 

 Temn. minor, on Astacopsis bicarinaius, from streams of Ntw 

 South Wales ; a third, Temn. qiiadricornis, on Astacopsis frank- 

 linii, from i.orthern rivers of Tasmania ; and a fourth, Temn. 

 fasciata, on Astacopsis serratus, streams of New South Wales. 

 Diagnoses of these species are not given, but it is possible to dis- 

 tinguish them by the comparative details given of their structure ; 

 they seem to differ from the type species of the genus, T. 

 chilensis, Gay ; and Wood-Mason is probably wrong in think- 

 ing that this latter species is to be found in New Zealand. 

 When undisturbed, the Temnocephala adhere to the surface of 

 the crayfihh by means of a sucker. — Notes on Echinoderm 

 morphology. No. xi. : on the development of the apical plates 

 in Amphiura sqttamata, by Dr. P. Herbert Carpenter, F.R.S. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, December 8.— "The Post-embryonic 

 Development oijulus terrestris." By F. G. Heathcote, M. A. 

 Communicated by Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S. 



With regard to the development of the coelom and generative 

 organs, I have obtained the following results. The somites 

 divide into two parts, as described for Slrongylosoma by Metsch- 

 nikoff, one part remaining in the body and the other part 

 projecting into the legs. The cavities in these two parts 

 together constitute the coelom. The part within the legs breaks 

 up and the cells give rise to muscles. The part within the body 

 passes dorsalwards along the thin sheet of mesoblast which 

 unites it to its fellow of the other side, so that the two vesicle- 

 like parts meet above the nerve-cord in the middle line. They 

 join so as to form a single tube, the generative tube. The 

 young ova, as well as the follicle cells surrounding them, are 

 formed by cells proliferated from the walls of this generative 

 tube. The body parts of the somites of the antennae and man- 

 dibles break up and disappear, but those of the third pair of 

 appendages give rise to the pair of salivary glands. There are 

 two pairs of somites to each double segment. 



In the development of the nerve-system, I find that there are 

 two cerebral grooves formed as in Peripalus. They disappear 

 early in the development. The ventral nerve-system, which at 

 first consists of two separate cords united by a thin median part, 

 undergoes a process of concentration which results in the pre- 

 sence of a single stout cord showing slight traces of its former 

 double condition. 



The heart is formed from mesoblast cells in the body-cavity. 

 These cells, which were directly derived from the hypoblast in 

 the early stages of development, form a network in the body- 

 cavity. The heart is the result of a joining together of the 

 meshes of this network, and thus is formed by the confluence of 



a series of spaces in the mesoblast, and has nothing to do with 

 the development of the coelom. 



The body-cavity is a series of spaces between the gut and the 

 body-wall, and is divided up by the mesoblast cells already 

 referred to. It is distinct from the coelomic cavities of the 

 somites, and is therefore a pseudoccele. 



The eye-spots are all formed in the same manner. The hypo- 

 dermis thickens, and a cavity appears within it bounded by 

 pigment. This cavity becomes a distinct vesicle. The front 

 wall of the vesicle becomes very thin and furnishes the lens, 

 while the cells of the back {i.e. most internal) wall and sides 

 become elongated and form the retinal elements of the eye. 

 The nuclei of the front wall become very faint and finally 

 disappear. 



The most striking feature of the development is the reduction 

 of the ventral part of the young animal and the increase of the 

 dorsal. In the just hatched animal the ventral region is nearly 

 as large as the dorsal, and the legs are wide apart, having a 

 distinct space between them. As development progresses the 

 dorsal region is increased, while the ventral is contracted till the 

 bases of the legs are close together. The corresponding concen- 

 tration of the nerve-cord I have already mentioned. In a paper 

 on Euphoberia, a Carboniferous Myriapod, Mr. Scudder points 

 out that one of the principal points in which the genus differs 

 from existing Diplopoda is the development of the ventral 

 region. The relations of the dorsal and ventral regions of the 

 body of the Euphoberia correspond exactly to the condition of 

 the young Julus. 



With rej^ard to the double segments of Jiilus, Newport held 

 that each double segment corresponded to two segments origin- 

 ally distinct which had fused together ; subsequent writers have 

 held that each double segment is a single segment which 

 has developed a second pair of legs. Now considering the 

 double segments with regard to the development as well as to 

 the adult condition, we see that the mesoblastic segmentation is 

 double, so are the tracheal, the nervous, and circulatory systems. 

 The only part of these double segments which is single is the 

 dorsal plate with its stink glands which arise as invaginations in it ; 

 this dorsal plate being so enlarged as to form a complete ring round 

 the body of the adult. Looking at the palteontology, we find 

 that in the Archipolypoda, a family including the Archidesmida-, 

 Euphoberida;, and Archijulidse, the dorsal plate did show 

 distinct traces of a division. Therefore I think that each double 

 segment represents two complete segments, the dorsal plates of 

 which have fused together to make one plate. 



Zoological Society, December 6. — Prof. W. H. Flower 

 F.R.S., President, in the chair. — Mr. Howard Saunder. 

 exhibited (on behalf of the Rev. H. A. Macpherson) a specimen 

 of the Isabelline Chat {Saxicola isabellina) shot in Cumber- 

 land, being the first recorded occurrence of this species in 

 Great Britain. — Prof. Bell exhibited and made remarks on 

 specimens of the tegumentary glands from the head of 

 the Rocky Mountain Goat {Haplocerus tnontamis). — A com- 

 munication was read from Prof. H. H. Giglioli and Count 

 T. Salvadori, containing notes on the fauna of Corea and 

 the adjoining coast of Manchuria. The notes were founded on 

 a large collection, principally of Vertebrates, made by order of 

 H.R.H. Prince Thomas of Savoy, Duke of Genoa, whilst he 

 was in command of the Vettor Pisani, on a voyage round the 

 world, 1878-81. The collection was stated to be now deposited 

 in the Royal Zoological Museum at Florence. — A communication 

 was read from M. L. Taczanowski, containing a list of birds 

 collected in Corea by M. J. Kalinowski between September 

 1885 and March 1887. A Woodpecker in the collection wa 

 considered to be new to science, and named Thripona.. 

 kalinowskii. — Prof. W. H. Flower read a paper on the Pygmy 

 Hippopotamus of Liberia {Hippopotamus liberiensis), and its 

 claims to distinct generic rank. The specimen of this animal 

 in the National Collection possessed two incisor teeth en one 

 side of the lower jaw. This and other considerations induced 

 the author to question the advisability of separating it generically 

 from Hippopotamus.— Mr. Francis Day, communicated a paper 

 by Mr. J. Douglas-Ogilby, of the Australian Museum, Sydney, 

 on a new genus and species of Australian Mugilida;, whicli 

 he proposed to designate Trachy stoma multidens.—Mx. Day 

 also read a second paper by Mr. Ogilby, giving the description 

 of a new genus of Percidse based on examples taken in the Gulf, 

 of St. Vincent, South Australia, which the author proposed to 

 describe as Chthamalopteryx melbournensis . — A communication 

 1 was read from Dr. M. Menzbier, of Moscow, describing a third 



