740 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 230. 



spending limit is set for plant and animal 

 life upon our globe. 



T. J. J. See. 

 U. S. Naval Obseevatoey, Washington, D. C. , 

 May 12, 1899. 



ON THE NEW GENUS OF LAMPREY, MACROPH- 

 THALMIA CHILENSIS. 



The preliminary account of Dr. Plate's 

 remarkable discovery published in the Sitz- 

 ungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naiurforschende 

 Freunde, Berlin (1897, No. 8, pp. 137-141), 

 has, as far as I am aware, received no com- 

 ment in recent literature, although there 

 can be little doubt that this remarkable 

 Cyclostorae has revived more of the im- 

 portant discussions as to the position of the 

 Cyclostomes than any publication since the 

 time of the classic pamphlet of Professor 

 Dohrn, ^ De)- Ursprung der Wirbelthiere.' And 

 morphologists will, I am sure, await im- 

 patiently a further discussion of the anat- 

 omy of this newly discovered type, shortly 

 to appear in the Fauna Chilensis in the Sup- 

 plement Volume of the Zoologische Ja.hr- 

 bilcher. 



As the preliminary account is not readily 

 accessible, it may be noted that this re- 

 markable lamprey has large and normally 

 developed eyes. It measures but 107 mm. in 

 length, is of a brilliant silver-white color, 

 and its sides are literally compressed, as in 

 the case of many of the typical bony fishes. 

 The back region is blue-black, with light 

 yellow, dusky flakes on the anterior half of 

 the forehead. It is also noteworthy that 

 the sides of the body are perfectly smooth, 

 lacking the markings of the muscles, com- 

 mon in other Cyclostomes. The nasal open- 

 ing is slit-like, situated anterior to the ej'es, 

 and not opening in a papilla. The gill-slits 

 are vertically compressed. The eye is of 

 exti-aoi'diuary size, 2.5 mm. in diameter, and 

 resembles outwardly the eyes of a Teleost, 

 with a circular pupil, 1 mm. in diameter. 



The dentition is relatively simple, and is 

 said to resemble that of Myxine. 



Plate has not as yet expressed his opinion 

 as to the significance of his morphological 

 prize ; but, judging from a single phrase in 

 his paper, he appears to regard it as a form 

 which has not assumed parasitic habits, and 

 has, therefore, not been subjected to degen- 

 eration. To what degree, however, will he 

 support Dohrn' s earlier teachings, which 

 derived the Cyclostomes from a teleost- like 

 ancestor ? In any case, this discovery will 

 by no means simplify the diflScult problem 

 as to the relationships of the Cyclostomes 

 in general, for it is not unnatural to assume 

 that if one of these forms has evolved nor- 

 mally developed eyes probably the others 

 also may originally have possessed them, 

 and that the present condition of cornea, 

 lens and retina may reasonably be inter- 

 preted as degenerate instead of primitive. 

 On the other hand, as far as the prelim- 

 inary account enables one to judge, it is 

 also possible to assume that under favorable 

 conditions the Hyperoarte may have become 

 highly specialized to the degree, indeed, of 

 acquiring a more teleost-like bodj'form, to- 

 gether with more completely developed 

 visual structures. It is to be hoped that Dr. 

 Plate has succeeded in collecting material 

 which will throw light upon the relations of 

 this new tj'pe from the standpoint of meta- 

 morphosis and embryonic development. 

 Bashfoed Dean. 



NOTE ON THE SPAWNING SEASON OF THE 

 EEL. 

 The recent and most interesting work of 

 the Italian naturalists Grassi, Calandruc- 

 cio and Ercolani has added, in all essential 

 regards, the needed information regarding 

 the spawning time, as well as the meta- 

 morphosis, of the eel. I do not find, how- 

 ever, in my review of the literature, any 

 definite observations with regard to either 



