ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 509 



effects of fossilization nothing but the parts of this internal ramus 

 might be left to be preserved. 



Vermes. 



Chemical Composition of Tubes of Onuphis.* — Professor 0. 

 Schmiedeberg finds that the tubes of this Annelid consist not only of 

 a mixture of albuminoid substance and of potassium and sodium, but 

 of a special body (onuphin) made up of organic and inorganic bodies ; 

 the presence of this body may be explained by the view of Ehlers 

 that the tube is a secretion of the separate segments of the animal, 

 a view which is based on the plentifulness of the secretion of 

 certain glands. The question of the origin of the chemical com- 

 ponents is considered by a reference to the quantitative analyses 

 of various sea-waters, and it is pointed out that the striated structure 

 of the tube is due to the different layers being separated by an albu- 

 minoid substance. The question of their food is not yet satisfactorily 

 settled, nor have we yet the necessary knowledge of the exact consti- 

 tution of onuphin. 



Nematoid Hsematozoon from a Camel.f — Dr. T. E. Lewis, 

 recalling the fact that the occasional presence of nematoid organisms 

 in the blood of various animals has long been ascertained, and that 

 ten years ago he had shown that in India a somewhat similar condition 

 was observable in man (associated with certain forms of grave disease), 

 points out that an important contribution to our knowledge of the 

 haematozoa of the lower animals has been made by Dr. G. Evans, the 

 head of the veterinary department of Madras, who, whilst making a 

 post-mortem examination of a camel, found that the blood of the 

 animal swarmed with the brood of a nematoid parasite resembling the 

 haematozoon of man. Dr. Evans found, further, that the parental 

 form existed in the lungs, the pulmonary arteries of which were 

 plugged by tangled masses of the thread-like parasites. They were 

 also found in the mesentery. 



A comparison of these haematozoa with those found in man shows 

 that, whereas the embryonal forms of both kinds are indistinguish- 

 able under the Microscope, nevertheless the mature form as met 

 with in the camel differs, both as to size and structure, from the 

 only male and female specimen of the mature form met with in man 

 which has hitherto been obtained in India ; and so far as Dr. Lewis 

 is aware, this haamatozoon of the camel differs from any hitherto 

 described parasite. Should further inquiry confirm the supposition 

 that the parasite is new to science, he proposed that it should be 

 called Filaria Evansi. A preliminary description is given of both 

 male and female forms. 



Development of Marine Planaria. J — Among other important 

 points, Prof. E. Selenka here discusses the affinities of the Planaria to 

 the Ctenophora and the Nemertinea. We find a considerable 



* MT. Zool. Stat. Neapel, iii. (1882) pp. 373-92. 

 + Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 1882, pp. 63-4. 

 t Zool. Studien, ii. (1881) 44 pp. (7 pis.). 



