ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 1039 



alfhougli there is a union of two distinct bodies of protoplasm. One 

 fact not sufficiently taken account of by Bennett * is that of the forma- 

 tion of a resting spore by union of the protoplasm of two adjacent 

 cells of the same filament. The position of the Zygnemaceae he jiuts 

 as being among the lower Thallophytes, but little above the Proto- 

 phytes. 



Problematic Organisms of the Ancient Sea.j — Count G. de 

 Saporta enters into an elaborate reply to the theory of Nathorst that 

 the supjiosed organic remains of a very early geological period are in 

 reality the petrified impressions of the footsteps of animals. He 

 maintains that a minute examination of their structure entirely con- 

 tradicts this view ; and that even those al>out which Nathorst exjiresses 

 the greatest doubt may be petrifications of algfe in half-relief. 



Algal-flora of the Arctic Ocean.}— Dr. F. E. Kjellman describes 

 in great detail the alga3 collected by the ' Vega ' esj)edition in different 

 parts of the Arctic Sea, and discusses the causes which have brought 

 about its special characteristics. The total number of sjjecies de- 

 scribed is 174, viz, 135 in the Sjutzbergen, 27 in the Siberian, 117 in 

 the American region. These include a considerable number of new 

 species, and two new genera, Hsemescharia and Biploderma, both 

 belonging to the Lithodermatiete. 63 of the species (belonging to 

 34 genera and 22 families) are not found south of the Arctic Sea; 

 ■while one-third belong exclusively to the portion not filled with ice. 



The families to which the greater part of the algte belong are the 

 Laminariaceae, Fucacete, and Oorallinete, all the others being but 

 sparsely represented. The FucaceaB give the prevalent character 

 only to the sub-arctic region, being very scarce or altogether absent 

 elsewhere. The Corallinese occupy large extents of the sub-littoral 

 region ; cushions of Lithothamnion glaciale cover in places areas of 

 four to five square miles. By far the largest portion of the algal 

 vegetation of the Arctic Sea is composed of Laminariaceae, extending, 

 on the west coast of Norway and Greenland, from low-water mark to 

 a depth of ten fathoms ; in other parts they are found only at a depth 

 of three to ten fathoms. 



Laminariaceae of Norway. § — In describing the Laminariaceae of 

 the Norwegian coast, Herr M. Foslie points out a frequent source of 

 error in the description of species from the use of dried instead of 

 fresh specimens. He further describes three difi'ereut forms of haptera. 

 or attachment-organs found in the Norwegian species. 



Morphology and Classification of Black Sea Algae. || —Prof. L. 

 Keinhardt contributes an elaborate pajjcr, the first of a series, on this 



* See this Journal, iv. (1884) p. 4B4. 

 *" ' t Bull. Soc. Gtol. Franco, xiii. p. 179. Sec Nrtturforsch'T, xviii. (1885) p. 267. 



X Vegii-ExpeditionoriH VctonH. Jiikttaj^cl.scr, iii. pp. 1-430 (31 pla.), Stock- 

 holm, 1883. See Bot. CentralW., xxii. (1K85) p. Gfh 



§ ChriHtlania Vid.^ria.-Sclka. Forhandl., 1884, 112 pp. (10 plw.). Sco Bot. 

 Ceiitralbl , xxii. (188.5) p. 193. 



II Mom. NovoroHsian Soc. Naturalists, ix. (188.")) j)p. 201-512 (11 pia.). C'f. 

 Nature, xxxii. (1885) p. 579. 



