April 8, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



487 



Echinoderms. — There is every indication 

 that April will be an excellent time for one 

 who wishes to secure an abundance of Echin- 

 oderm material, either for embryological or 

 for experimental study. The star-fish are 

 approaching sexual maturity. The most 

 attractive eggs are those of the ' sand-dol- 

 lars ' {Echinarachnivs parma). Bushels of 

 this echinoid were dredged off Quick's 

 Hole. The eggs readily fertilize and de- 

 velop normally. The first cleavage oc- 

 curred two hours after fertilization ; the 

 gastrulation occurred in from 30 to 36 

 hours. ' Plutei ' from embryos hatched on 

 March 22d were raised without difficult}^ 

 and are now, at the end of the month, still 

 living. I regret that observations on the 

 breeding habits of the Holothurians were 

 not made. 



Coelenterates. — The wealth of Ccelentarete 

 life found during this month is bewildering 

 and distracting. Ctenopores (adult ilf?iemt- 

 opsis and Pleurohrachia) hydro- and scypho- 

 medusse abound. The Ephjra and young 

 oi Aicrelia were taken at Waquoit in count- 

 less numbers and lived in the laboratory 

 from the 16th to the close of the month. 

 On March 30th the calm surface of the 

 water in Great Harbor was literally 

 spangled with the slightly protruding discs 

 of Cijanea. The piles and rock-work of the 

 ' basin ' are covered with breeding ' Hy- 

 droids ' of Coryne, Clava and Parypha. The 

 dredge has brought up Sertularia argentea, 

 laden with eggs, and, most beautiful of all, 

 enormous specimens of Tubularia couthouyi. 

 The expended hydranths of this species are 

 as large as ' bachelor's buttons, ' and are 

 borne upon a stalk several inches in height. 

 They literally droop with their burden of 

 ripe gonophores. The young are possessed 

 of remarkable vitality and would make 

 excellent material for experimental work. 

 Timaformosa, though abundant in ISTarragan- 

 sett Bay from January to March in 1896, 

 has not thus far been seen either in the 



' Sound ' or in Buzzards Bay. Metridiunif 

 Sagartia, Halcampa and Astrangia have been 

 taken, though an examination of their re- 

 productive glands has not been made. 

 Grantia is not abundant, and the individuals 

 collected were small and apparently imma- 

 ture. H. C. BuMPUS. 



THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE AMER- 

 ICAN ASSOCIATION FOR TEE ADVANCE- 

 MENT OF SCIENCE. 

 The local committees for the Boston meet- 

 ing — the fiftieth anniversary to be cele- 

 brated from August 22d to 27th — have now 

 been arranged, and contain the names of a 

 greater number of men of science and men 

 interested in science tlian could probably 

 be secured in any other city of the United 

 States, not excepting ISTew York and AVash- 

 ingtoa. His Excellency, Roger Wolcott, 

 Governor of Massachusetts, is Honorary. 

 President of the Committee; Colonel Henry 

 L. Higgenson is the Honorary Treasurer 

 and Professor Thomas D wight, Professor Al- 

 pheus Hyatt and Professor E. C. Picker- 

 ing are the Honorary Secretaries. The 

 chairman of the reception committee is 

 Dr. J. R. Chadwick ; of the committee on 

 rooms for meetings. Professor Charles R. 

 Cross ; of the committee on invitations for 

 foreign guests. Professor H. P. Bowditch ; 

 of the committee on excursions, General 

 Francis H. Appleton ; of the Cambridge 

 committee. President Chas. W. Eliot ; of the 

 Salem commitee, Hon. Robert S. Rantoul, 

 and of the executive committee. Professor 

 William T. Sedgwick. The Local Secretary 

 is Professor H. W. Tyler, Massachusetts In- 

 stitute of Technology. 



Professor F. W. Putnam, President and 

 until the meeting Permanent Secretary, has 

 prepared the following letter calling atten- 

 tion to the meeting : Early in the year 

 1897 the Boston Society of N"atural History 

 appointed a committee to take the initiative 

 in extending an invitation to the Associ- 



