86 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Abnormal Amoeba.* — Mr. E. B. Bray ley describes an Amoeha of 

 extraordinary dimensions. In length it was within a very small 

 fraction of 1/6 in., breadth about 1/15 in. This is ten times larger 

 than any mentioned in Leidy's monograph. It is suggested to be a 

 very abnormal form of A. proteus. 



Endoparasite of Noteus.f — Miss Sara G. Foulke describes certain 

 ciliated bodies found in a crushed rotifer, a species of Noteus. These 

 were very transparent, and showed no " endoplast " : some were ovate, 

 some globular, completely surrounded by long cilia ; some contained 

 refractive bodies — " germs " — which escaped from the parent's body. 

 The name AnoplopTirya notei is given to them ; they appear allied to 

 A. socialis, but are only 1/6 the size of this, being 1/600 in. in diameter ; 

 their cilia are longer, and the cuticle is unstriated. 



Biitschli's 'Protozoa.' :j:— Parts 29, 30, and 31 of Prof. O. Biitschli's 

 ' Protozoa ' were published in November 1885, with plates 51 to 54. 



Forty-eight papers on the literature of the Dinoflagellata are 

 enumerated. The Dinoflagellata are divided into the Prorocentrina 

 or Adinida, the Dinifera, and the Polydinida. The structure of the 

 test is discussed, and its morphology elucidated by the aid of wood- 

 cuts ; the motor phenomena are said to be very like those of the 

 riagellata, being almost always connected with locomotion around the 

 longitudinal axis ; within the protoplasm are chromatophores, which 

 appear to be endogenous ; starch is found in some, even if not in all, 

 of the uncoloured forms; fat, red pigment, and eye-spots are also 

 found ; the last have as yet been seen only in the Dinifera, where 

 they occupy a definite position in the body, being placed at about the 

 middle of the longitudinal groove ; they are oval, elongated, or 

 (Glenodinium cinctum) horse-shoe shaped in form, and are coloured a 

 bright red. Among the organisms here figured are Glenodinium, 

 Peridinium, and Ceratium. 



BOTANY. 



A. GENERAL, including the Anatomy and Physiology 

 of the Phanerogamia. 



a. Anatomy. § 



New Organ in Protoplasm. |1 — M. H. de Vries has examined a 

 number of plants, in order to determine the question whether the 

 vacuoles which always appear after a time in the protoplasm of the 

 living cell (and ultimately either coalesce into one, or give place to one 



* Sci.-Gossip, 1886, p. 19. f Amer. Journ. Sci., xxx. (1885) pp. 377-8. 



I Bronn's ' Klassen u. OrdnuDgen d. Thierreiches,' 8vo, Leipzig and Heidel- 

 berg, 1885. 



§ This subdivision contains (1) Cell-structure and Protoplasm (including the 

 Nucleus and Cell-diYision ; (2) Other Cell-contents (including the Cell-sap and 

 Chlorophyll) ; (3) Secretions ; (4) Structure of Tissues ; and (5) Structure of 

 Organs. 



II Maandblad voor Natuurwetenschappen, 1884. See Bot. Centralbl., sxiii. 

 (1885) p. 182. 



