352 Miscellaneous. 



tub, having a capacity of about 75 gallons, which it filled. This tub 

 was known to hold 700 lbs. of codfish. The gravity of the ArcJii- 

 teiithis is probably about the same as that of the fish. This would 

 indicate more nearly the actual weight of one of these creatures than 

 any of the mere estimates that have been made, which are usually 

 much too great. Allowing for the parts of the arms that had 

 been destroyed, this specimen would, perhaps, have weighed nearly 

 1000 lbs. 



Among the numerous other vessels that were fortunate in secur- 

 ing this kind of bait, Capt. Collins mentioned the following : — 

 The schr. ' Sarah P. Ayer,' Capt. Oakly, took one or two. The 

 ' E. li. Xickerson,' Capt. ^M'Donald, secured one that had its arms 

 and was not entirely dead ; so that it was harpooned. Its tentacular 

 arms were 36 feet long. The schr. ' Tragabigzanda,' Capt. Mallory, 

 secured three in one afternoon. These were from 8 to 12 feet long, not 

 including the arms. These statements are confirmed by other fisher- 

 men, some of whom state that the " big squids " were also common, 

 during the same season, at the " Flemish Cap," a bank situated some 

 distance north-east from the Grand Banks. 



The cause of so great a mortality among these great Cephalopods 

 can only be conjectured. It may have been due to some disease 

 epidemic among them, or to an unusual prevalence of deadly para- 

 sites or other enemies. It is worth while, however, to recall the 

 fact that these were observed at about the same time, in autumn, 

 when most of the specimens have been found cast ashore at New- 

 foundland, in different years. This season may, perhaps, be just 

 subsequent to their season for reproduction, when they would be 

 so much weakened as to be more easily overpowered by parasites, 

 disease, or other unfavourable conditions. — Amer. Joiirn. Sci., March 

 1881. 



On the Histolysis of the Muscles of the Larva daring the Postern- 

 bri/onic Development of the Dijytera. By M. H. Viallaxes. 



It has long been known that all the muscles of the larva of the 

 fly disappear at the moment when the insect passes into the pupa 

 state ; but no observer seems to me to have studied the phenomena 

 which accompany this disappearance, known under the name of 

 histolysis. In my investigations upon this subject I have examined 

 more than 400 sections* made across entire larvae and pupae of 

 Musca vomitoria, previously fixed by picric acid, hardened by alcohol, 

 and coloured with carmine. To arrive at a correct understanding 

 of the phenomena which characterize the histolysis of muscle, it is 

 desirable, in the first place, to determine exactly the structure of 

 the primitive bundle in the larva. Before the latter has become 

 motionless the primitive bundle, observed in a transverse section, 

 presents a sarcolemma enclosing the contractile mass, which ex- 

 hibits the characteristic pattern of Cohnheim's areas, and, 

 further, nuclei. Of these, some are situated beneath the sarco- 

 lemma, the others in the heart of the contractile mass ; it is difficult 



* All these sections are preserved. 



