Miscellaneous. 415 



13. The amphidiscs gradually penetrate into the la5'or of the 

 clavate cells, and distribute themselves between them. 



14. The cells which are displaced by the amphidiscs emerge 

 upon the surface of the latter, and secrete the second chitinoid 

 cuticle, whereupon they atrophy, and the gemmule appears in its 

 completely developed state, as previously described by Goette and 



,Wiorzejski. 



Finally one little remark in conclusion : Goetie's assertion that 

 tlie clavate cells of the gemmule in process of formation form ara[)hi- 

 discs in their interior, appears to me to be at once improbable, for 

 the very reason that in such a case we would have to ascribe a 

 double role to one and the same cell ; i. e. tlie faculty of secreting 

 (1) chitin with their lower flattened end, and that, too, twice over ; 

 and (2) silica for the formation of the amphidiscs. So far as I am 

 able to judge, there is no instance of the assumption by one and 

 the same cell of such different chemical functions. — ZoologUcher 

 Anzeir/er, xv. Jahrg., No. 386, March 14, 1892, pp. 95-96 (sent in 

 Dec. 14, 1891). 



On the Habits of Gelasimua annulipes, Ediu. 

 By A. Alcock, M.B. 



Darwin, in the ' Descent of Man,' quotes several observations 

 which illustrate the considerable complexity of life of Gelasimus. 

 He refers (2nd edition, pp. 254, 269, and 271) to Fritz Miiller's 

 account of Bi'azilian species of the genus in which the males are 

 more numerous than the females, in which the pugnacity of the 

 males is remarkable, and in which the male exhibits a chameleon- 

 like attractiveness of colour not possessed by the female. He also 

 refers to Milne-Edwards's quotation (Hist. Nat. des Crustaces, 

 tom. ii. p. 50), that the male and female of a species of Gelasimus 

 live together in one burrow, the mouth of which the male closes 

 with his enormous chela. 



The observations which I have to record are on the common 

 species Gelasimus annulipes, Edw. 



This species lives in vast swarms in " warrens " on the muddy 

 tidal swamps of the Godavari and Kistna, each individual having its 

 own burrow, round which it ranges, and into which it retreats when 

 alarmed. 



In the colder months, at any rate, the males far outnumber the 

 females. 



In the male alone one of the chelae is enormously developed. In 

 a fully adult male the length of the large chela is two-and-a-half 

 times the greatest length, and one-and-a-half times the greatest 

 breadth, of the whole bodj', and 40 per cent, of the entire weight of the 

 animal, and is coloured a beautiful cherry-rod fading to a rose-pink, 



