Miscellaneous. iJOT 



certainty by the author, although he made observations for hours 

 togetlier upon numerous insects. 



Beside glol?uline, fibrine, and another proteine body, the author 

 detected CaO, MgO, PO'^, and NaCl as inorganic constituents of the 

 serum. 



The author did not succeed in agciirately ascertaining the chemical 

 constitution of many crystals which occur in the evaporated serum ; 

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

 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 crystallographically and in their solubi- 

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

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

 be placed upon the same stage as the haemoglobine 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. — Anzeiger der K. K. Akad. der Wiss. in Wien, 

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



0)1 the Structure of the Renillse. By A. Kolliker. 



1. The stem of the Renittce 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 Tceel 

 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 imperfectly 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 cascally, open into the 

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



3. The stem and Tceel 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 froiul or disk of llenilla consists of nothing but polyp- 

 ceUs, 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 lamince above mentioned. All these parts consist of 

 connective tissue, with an abundance of fine and capillary nutritive 

 vessels and more or less numerous calcareous corpuscles. 



5. The polyp -cells 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 



