66 Miscellaneous. 



fectly normal, and tliat the seminal receptacle swarmed with sperma- 

 tozoids. On the other hand the ovarian tubes, although scarcely 

 reduced in size and number, showed a degenerescence of their 

 contents. The eggs whose dimensions indicated that they were 

 approaching the moment of deposition were but few ; and their 

 vitellus presented here and there the same phenomenon of fatty de- 

 generation that was observed in the rest of the tubes, although the 

 deposition of the membrane of the ovum by the epithelium had not 

 ceased. 



The second queen observed by M. Claus had not always produced 

 sterile eggs. Her owner, who had obtained her the preceding 

 summer, had ascertained that she laid fertile eggs. Even in the 

 spring he still obtained resiilts from them, but subsequently he 

 ascertained that her fertility had ceased. M. Claus found the re- 

 productive apparatus normal in all its parts, and the seminal receptacle 

 was full of active spermatozoids. The interior of the ovarian tubes 

 presented the same conditions as in the preceding queen, but in a still 

 more- distinct fashion. The ova contained in the lower dilatations 

 of the tubes had the vitellus shrivelled into a solid, caseous mass, 

 although the epithelium seemed to have retained its faculty of 

 secreting the shell. 



Lastly, M. von Siebold, having received from a Bohemian bee- 

 keeper a queen which only laid sterile eggs, also ascertained that the 

 organs had their ordinary structure, and that the receptacle swarmed 

 with spermatozoids, but that the contents of the ovarian tubes pre- 

 sented an abnormal appearance. Both in the compartment containing 

 vitellus and in the ova themselves, every thing indicated the existence 

 of substances in decomposition. The eggs already enclosed in their 

 shell and ready to be laid were in a very altered state, denoting a 

 dissociation of the elements. 



It is therefore an irregularity in the formation of the ovnm, and 

 especially of its vitellus, that causes this sterility. It is simply the 

 result of a pathological state, and has nothing to do with partheno- 

 genetic reproduction. 



As regards the cause of this degeneration, M. Claus thinks that 

 we must seek it in the influence of bad weather, and in insufficient 

 nourishment. M. von Siebold admits that these circumstances may 

 have a certain injurious effect ; but, according to him, they are not 

 the sole determining causes, since otheiTvise, as they are of frequent 

 occurrence, queens "n^ith sterile eggs would not be so rare as they are 

 in these countries. — Zeitschr. fur wissenschaft. Zooloqie, vol. xxiii., 

 May 1873, pp. 198-210 ; B'ibl. Univ. July 15, 1873, Bull Sci. 

 pp. 241-243. 



Note on the Habitat of Psetalia globulosa and Labaria hemisphserica, 

 Gray. By Dr. A. B. Meyer. 



Dr. J. E. Gray described, in the 'Ann. & Mag. Xat. Hist.' xi. 

 J). 234, 1873, the two new above-named free sponges sent home by 

 me fi'om Singapore. Dr. Gray observes that he believes these 

 sponges were obtained in the neighbourhood of Singapore ; and Mr. 



