740 REPORT— 1887. 



tion with a lens showed it to he richly provided with distended hlood-vessels. The 

 colour became momentarily still brighter when the capsule was removed. 



There can be little doubt that the wall of the capsule in this region is per- 

 meable, and that the necessary interchange of gases can therefore take place 

 through it. 



This condition of things is similar to tbat seen in a frog from the Antilles, 

 Hylodes mm-tinicensis, in which also the broad tail-fin serves as a respiratory organ. 

 Probably the same thing occurs in the larva of Pi2}a ; and I may also call attention 

 to another frog, found in Solomon's Islands, Ra7ia opisthodrm, in which a row of 

 about nine transverse folds of the skin of the abdomen serve for respiration. 



According then to my observations, Frotopterus has three means of respiration, 

 and it would be interesting to discover in what relative importance the lungs and 

 the tail stand to one another in respiration during the torpid period. This would 

 be all the more interesting inasmuch as various observers differ greatly in their 

 descriptions of the pulmonary circulation of the Dijmoi. 



6. The Larynx and Stomach of Cetacean Embryos. 

 By Professor D'Arct Thompson. 



7. On Haplodiscus Piger. By W. F. R. Weldon, M.A., 

 Fellow of St. John's College, Camhridge. 



the nume Haplodiscus is proposed for a small pelagic organism foiuid by the 

 author in the Bahama Islands. It is a discoidal animal, about two millimetres in 

 diameter, convex dorsally and concave ventrally. The body is covered by a cuticle, 

 and is not ciliated. Within the cuticle is a continuous tiinic of nucleated proto- 

 plasm, in which cell-outlines are not distinguishable, and which sends anastomosing 

 processes through the cavity of the body. In the centre is a solid mass of proto- 

 plasm, continuous laterally with the general somatic reticulum, and communicating 

 with the exterior by a small slit on the ventral surface, through which it can pro- 

 bably be partially extruded in the form of pseudopodia. This central protoplasmic 

 mass is the alimentary tract, and generally contains numerous ' food-vacuoles,' in 

 which are imbedded the remains of various organisms such as copepods, &c. 



At the anterior edge of the body is a brain, with a short nerve cord extending 

 from it on each side. 



Reproduction is effected by means of ova and spermatozoa, tlie animals being 

 hermaphrodite. The ovaries lie one on each side of tlie mouth ; the single testis 

 is situated in the middle dorsal line. The male genital opening is median and 

 posterior ; no female opening was observed. 



Yellow cells are plentifully scattered through all the tissues. 



8. The Blood- corpuscles of the Cyolostomata. 

 By Professor D'Akcy Thompson. 



Sub-Section BOTAISTY. 

 1. Report on the Disappearance of Native Plants. — See Reports, p. 130. 



2. Report of the China Flora Committee. — See Reports, p. 94. 



3. Cocoa-nut Pearls. By S. J. Hickson. 



