256 report— 1884. 



Solen,, Solecurtus, Psammobia, Venus, and others, alive in sea- water, 

 coloured by various bodies, botli in solution and finely particulate, and 

 afterwards obtained sections of various regions ; but in no case was there 

 any evidence of anything having been taken in. With iodine green in 

 the sea-water, I found, however, that the colouring matter penetrated, 

 but not from any particular spot, all through to a certain depth ; the 

 tissues, in fact, became stained while living, a condition well known to be 

 possible with some other anilin dyes — Bismarck brown, for instance. 



I mad3 some observations upon the ' Topfchen,' or ' ciliated pots,' which 

 occur in the ccelomic fluid of Sipunculus. I find that they present two 

 kinds of cilia — a bundle of central long cilia, and around these a circlet 

 of shorter cilia ; and there may be seen groups of amoeboid corpuscles 

 apparently breaking down — degenerating, surrounded by these ciliated 

 pots which have their long cilia fixed into the mass and twirl themselves 

 round, first one way and then the other, dragging upon the mass until 

 they drag out that portion into which they have fixed their long cilia, and 

 then swim off with it and, I am inclined to believe, digest it. I was, 

 however, unable to arrive at any further conclusion as to their nature. 



I also examined the 'brown tubes,' the uterine pouches of Sipunculus, 

 with regard to the position of their internal orifices. This I found to 

 agree with a previous unpublished observation of Professor Lankester. 

 It is a transversely elongated slit with ciliated lips lying close to the ex- 

 ternal aperture, on or upon that surface of the gland. 



I extracted a quantity of the green colouring matter from the annelid 

 Chcetopterus and brought it home in order to make a microspectroscopic 

 examination. 



Lastly, I prepared sections, &c, of the suckers of various cephalopoda, 

 in order to obtain facts for a comparison which I am about to make 

 between these structures and the tentacles of Nautilus pompilius. 



II. Report on the Occupation of the Table by Professor A. Milnes 



Marshall. 



I reached Naples in the first week of April, and stayed there till the 

 end of the month. I had originally intended to occupy myself with (or.) 

 certain points in the development of the Alcyonaria, and (b) with a further 

 study, in continuation of former researches, on the development of the 

 muscles of the head and of the posterior cranial nerves of Elasmobranchs. 

 For the former the weather and the season of year proved unfavourable; 

 and of Elasmobranch embryos I was only able to obtain a limited 

 number. I therefore devoted the greater portion of my time to other 

 subjects, and chiefly to an experimental investigation of the nervous 

 system of Antedon, with the object of deciding, if possible, the points 

 of dispute between the Carpenters on the one hand, and on the other, the 

 German morphologists headed by Ludwig. 



It is now nearly twenty years since Dr. Carpenter first suggested that 

 the axial cords were really the nerves supplying the muscles of the arms 

 of Antedon : since that time he has steadily maintained this view, and 

 has supported it by a considerable mass of evidence, both anatomical and 

 physiological. The same view is held by Dr. P. H. Carpenter, who has 

 brought forward independent and very important evidence in its favour, 

 chiefly histological and morphological. 



Ludwig, on the other hand, and the majority of the Continental writers 



