Miscellaneous. o07 



certainty by the author, although he made observations for hours 

 together upon numerous insects. 



Beside globuline, fibrine, and another proteine body, the author 

 detected CaO, MgO, PO', and jS'aCl as inorganic constituents of the 

 serum. 



The author did not succeed in accurately ascertaining the chemical 

 constitution of many crystals which occur in the evaporated serum ; 

 but he convinced himself that these are not, as affirmed by Landois, 

 all of organic nature. 



Those crystals which are undoubtedly of organic nature (many 

 of them become carbonized when strongly heated) show on the whole 

 so great an agreement, both crystallographieally and in their solubi- 

 lity, that they must be referred, with great probabilitj', to one and 

 the same essential constituent of the blood. They cannot, however, 

 be placed upon the same stage as the hsemoglobine crystals of the 

 Vertebrata, not only on account of their colour, but also because 

 they are for the most part either insoluble or difficultly soluble in 

 aqueous ammonia. — Anzeifjer der K. K. AJcad. der Wiss. in Wien, 

 Jan. 5, 1871, pp. 2-5. 



On the Sttnicture of the ReniDse. By A. Kollikee. 



1. The stem o{ ihc Renillie contains two canals, separated by a 

 partition — a dorsal one and a ventral one, which coalesce into a single 

 cavity at the free end of the stem, the partition ceasing with a sharp 

 margin before the end of the stem. 



2. The continuation of the stem into the disk (frond) or the keel 

 contains in some species nothing but the dilated ends of the pedun- 

 cular canals ; but in other species there is, in addition, a central 

 sinus-like space, which may even be imi^erfectly divided into two 

 cavities by a vertical septum. This median sinus is completely 

 closed ; that is to say, it is destitute of large apertures of communi- 

 cation. On the other hand, such apertures occur in the dorsal and 

 ventral sinuses of the keel (the continuations of the two peduncular 

 canals), which, although they terminate csecally, open into the 

 neighbouring polyp-cells by a larger or smaller number of apertures. 



3. The stem and heel are furnished with longitudinal and annular 

 muscles, and possess wider nutritive canals than the other Penna- 

 tulidse ; from these, finer nutritive vessels, ultimately becoming 

 very fine, are given off, and are particularly numerous in the 

 cutis. 



4. The frond or disk of Renilla consists of nothing but polyp - 

 cells, to which the dorsal and ventral laminae of the frond serve as 

 roof and floor; they are separated in the interior by septa, which 

 unite the two laminae above mentioned. All these parts consist of 

 connective tissue, with an abundance of fine and capiUaiy nutritive 

 vessels and more or less numerous calcareous corpuscles. 



5. The polyp-ceJls are lozenge-shaped or fusiform in the direction 

 of the radii of the frond, and are of the height of the distance be- 

 tween the dorsal and ventral laminae of the frond. Nevertheless 



