406 Miscellaneous. 



glycogene, and fatty matters forbids our assimilating them to simple 

 amoeboid masses. It would seem that we may rather compare 

 them to buds, which would thus originate in the interior of the 

 embryo : their development even marks the term of its existence ; 

 for we soon see it become disaggregated to set free these bodies, 

 which move, animated by rapid contractions, in the circumambient 

 fluid. 



It will be seen that such results compel us to modify profoundly 

 the signification which helminthologists assign to the ciliated embryo 

 of Bilharzia in the cycle of development of that species. Its for- 

 mation in the ovule as a consequence of a sexual act can alone 

 explain the name of proscolex generally given to it ; in reality its 

 constitution evidences a superiority the reflection of which we 

 should seek in vain among the different types of the class considered 

 at this period. Far from being deficient, the internal parts are here 

 represented by the caeca, in which we may see the first sketch of a 

 digestive apparatus, and by that vascular ramification which drains 

 the economy after the fashion of an excretory apparatus. By their 

 mode of origin, as by their characters, the contractile corpuscles 

 finally introduce an idea which is new and of high importance, 

 since it enables us to bring together in the same stage the different 

 evolutive states of the Trematode — a conclusion of which it is easy 

 to foresee the importance in general morphology. — Comptes Hendus, 

 September 27, 1880, p. 554. 



Note on Argiope capsula. 

 By J. Gwyn Jeffreys, LL.D., F.B..S. 



This tiny but remarkable Brachiopod has been lately found by 

 my esteemed correspondent, Mr. Duprey, in Jersey, living at low 

 water. It adheres by its comparatively short but stout byssus, in 

 an upright position, to the underside of large stones which are sunk 

 and partly buried in the sandy mud. Its companions are Chiton 

 scabridus, liissoa striatula, Adeorbis subcariaatus, and an apparently 

 undescribed species of Ascidia. The fall of spring-tides in Jersey is 

 equal to a depth of from 33 to 41 feet. 



The specimens kindly sent me by Mr. Duprey are larger than 

 any I had previously seen ; and I was enabled to examine the 

 inside of the shell by soaking them for some days in dilute potash 

 water, together with specimens of Argiope cistellula of the same 

 6ize. A. cctpsida has a thick hinge ; and the smaller (though 

 scarcely smaller) valve has a sharp-edged and wavy crest or ridge 

 lying a little within th.e margin, which is heart-shaped and con- 

 tinuous in front. The shell is strong for its size, and is nearly 

 spherical and equivalve, the beaks of both valves being excavated 

 to contain the byssus. There is no trace of a septum in either 

 valve. The caecal tubercles are numerous, twice as many as in A. 

 cistellula of the same size. The latter species is transversely oblong ; 



