Mr. ( ). Tliumas on n Ihird Sprcies o/' Nyctophilu3. 405 



between tlie eyes and the cephalotlioracic gland.s on each side, 

 and probably has an excretory function. In the two species 

 examined tiiis organ exhibited considerable differences in 

 structure. The organs are purely embryonic ; in the youngest 

 epccimeiis of harvest-men which I was able to exan)ine 1 no 

 longer found any trace of them. I failed to elucidate their 

 fate during; the transition to post-embryonic life. This j)air 

 of glands reminded me forcibly of the dorsal organ of the 

 Mysidaa, as recently described by Nussbaum * and Butsch- 

 inski t- Although I did not succeed in observing its first 

 appearance, I nevertheless consider it to be very probal)le 

 that it aj)pears, precisely like that of Mijsis (at least in the 

 case of the second species of Phalavgium), in the form of an 

 invagination of the ectoderm. Similar organs have been 

 observed by Watase J in Liinidus, where they were also 

 found to resemble the dorsal organs of My sis. Kingsley and 

 Patten, however, consider these organs in Limulus to be of a 

 sensory character §. As regards Phalangium the glandular 

 character of " the lateral or dorsal organs " cannot be open to 

 the slightest doubt, as is proved by the numerous concretions 

 enclosed in their cells and their excretion to the exterior. 



LXI. — Description of a Third Species of the Genus 

 Nyctoj)!nlus. By Oldfield Thomas. 



The genus Nyctophilus was in Dr. Dobson's ' Catalogue of 

 Bats ' II considered to consist in 1878 of only a single species, 

 the Australian Long-eared Bat, Nyctophilus timor.msis, a 

 species with very much the facics, and evidently taking the 

 place in Australia, of the European Long-eared Bat, Plecotus 

 auritus. In 1888 ^ I had the pleasure of describing a second 

 species of the genus from New Guinea, N. microtis^ which 



• Nussbaum, "Zur Embryologie von Mi/sis chama>leo," Zeitschr. 

 Neuruss. Naturf. Gesellscliaft in Odessa, xii. Bd., 1887. 



t Butscliinski, " Zur Entwicklungsge^chichte der Mysiden," Zeitschr, 

 Neuruss. Naturf. Gesellschaft in Odessa, xv. Bd., 1890. 



X Watase, " On the Sti-ucture and Development of the Eyes of Limu- 

 Itcs" Johns Hopkins Univ. Circ. vol. viii. 



§ Kingsley, "The Ontogeny of Limidm,'' Zool. Anz. 1890; Patten, 

 ^' On the Origin of Vertebrates' from Arachnids," Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci. 

 xxxii., 1890. 



II P. 172. 



51 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) ii. p. 226. 



An7i. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 6. Vol. ix. 30 



