252 Miscellaneous. 



the lingual gland, the unpaired suboesophageal gland of the Deca- 

 pods, and the extra-bulbar pair of the Octopods are constructed upon 

 the same type ; they are bunches of acini formed by rather short 

 cylindrical cells, filled in their inferior third with protoplasm with a 

 large nucleus ; the protoplasm is continued as a network in the 

 middle third, and the rest is filled with rather large granules, which 

 stain strongly. They much resemble the serous cells of Vertebrates. 

 On the other hand, the pair of abdominal glands consist of large 

 conical cells, the narrow lower part of which contains protoplasm, 

 while the uj)per two thirds are filled with large balls of mucus, 

 which does not stain with the same reagents as the inferior third ; 

 these large caliciform cells emit through their wide apertures the 

 balls of mucus which become fused into a uniform mass in the ex- 

 cretory ducts, showing a remarkable analogy with the mucous cells 

 of the higher Yertebrata. 



The above is the fundamental structure of the salivary elements, 

 but their arrangement difi^ers greatly in the two great divisions of 

 the Cephalopoda. In the Decapods the abdominal gland is small 

 and formed of acini, like the other glands ; but in the Octopods it 

 is very large, and it is a tubular gland which may be broken up by 

 the action of chloride of gold. It is formed by a tube indefinitely 

 divided dichotomously, nearly equal in diameter throughout its 

 whole extent, except in the final branches, which are smaller. The 

 terminal tubular branches are clothed with a single layer of mus- 

 cular fibres forming very regular and Avell-marked rings, the action 

 of which is clearly to drive the mucus towards the excretory duct. 

 All the tubes are twisted together inextricably, the spaces between 

 them being occupied by connective fibres, large stellate cells, or free 

 spaces through which the blood circulates. 



The author adds that he has investigated the embryogeny of 

 these glands and completed the researches of Bobretzky in many 

 points. — Comjjtcs Bendiis, July 18, 1887, p. 177. 



Habitat of Peripatus Leuckarti. By Prof. F. Jeffkey Bell. 



Dr. E. P. Ramsay, F.R.S.E., has lately been so kind as to send 

 me two specimens of Peripatus Leuclrirti, Sanger. Prof. Leuckart's 

 only information with regard to the place of origin of his specimen 

 was " Neu Holland." It may therefore be of interest to state that 

 Mr. Ramsay's examples were taken in the Queensland Scrubs, near 

 Wide Bay. Sanger's paper being almost inaccessible, and, more- 

 over, being written in Russian, I am glad to be able to add that 

 Mr. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S., will incorporate observations on the 

 specimens sent me by Mr. Ramsay in his forthcoming monograph 

 on the genus. ISow that Mr. Ramsay has led the way, it is to be 

 hoped more specimens of Peripatus may be sent from Australia to 

 this country. 



