230 Miscellaneous. 



attention. Some of them live in caves, others in the earth, and some 

 are domesticated among the Ants. 



The absence of the eye is not the character of a distinct family ; 

 several genera belonging to different families present the same ano- 

 maly. None of these insects have hitherto been made the subject of 

 anatomical investigation ; but I have examined the nervous system of 

 five species, the only ones that I have been able to procure in suffi- 

 cient number. Several of the others are so small that they cannot 

 be dissected. These five species belong to four families of Coleoptera ; 

 three live in caves, namely, Aphcenops LescJienaultii (Carabidae), Ade- 

 lopspyrenceus, and Pholeuon Querilhaci (Silphales) ; one lives with 

 ants, namely Claviger Duvalii (Pselaphidae) ; and the last is found 

 deep in the earth, this is Langelandia anoplithalma (Latridiidae). 



In all these insects the eye is entii-ely wanting. The abortion of 

 this organ induces the disappearance of the optic nerve, and even 

 that of a portion of the nervous centres ; for the cerebroid ganglia, 

 instead of forming a mass placed transversely in the head, have the 

 form of two elongate-oval bodies placed nearly parallel to each other. 

 This form resembles that of the cerebroid ganglia of some blind larvae 

 the perfect insects of which possess eyes. — Comptes liendtis, November 

 25, 1867, p. 890. 



Action of the Indicction-current upon Plants. 

 By C. Blondeau. 



M. Blondeau has pursued his investigation of the effect of the in- 

 duction-current upon the vegetable organism (see p. 33) by examining 

 its action upon the fruit and seed. 



Acting upon fruits the current hastens their maturity. Apples, 

 pears, and peaches which had been subjected to the action of the 

 current arrived at complete maturity when the other fruits of the 

 same plant, which had not been operated upon, were still far from 

 being ripe. 



The most curious results were obtained by electrifying seeds before 

 placing them in the ground. Seeds were rendered conductive by 

 soaking them for some time in water, and then submitted for a few 

 minutes to the action of the current. Peas, French beans, and wheat 

 were experimented on. The electrified seeds always germinated 

 sooner than those which had not been acted on by the current ; the 

 development of the plant was more rapid, and the stalks and leaves 

 greener and more vigorous. 



Some of the electrified French beans presented a very curious pe- 

 culiarity ; they germinated downwards, the gemmule and cotyledons 

 remaining in the ground, and the root rising into the air. The au- 

 thor remarks upon this peculiarity, which he compares to the effect 

 of the current upon the poles of a magnet, and indicates that the 

 embryo may hence be assimilated to a little magnet, having its neu- 

 tral line, and its two poles each charged with a peculiar fluid tending 

 to cause its organs to grow towards the centre of the earth or towards 

 the sky. — Comptes Rendus, November 4, 1867, pp. 762-763. 



