972 SUMMARY OF CUUnENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



begftii to break up. After it had lost a third of its substance, the 

 jiressure was raised to 6 mm. The disruption C( ascd, and the animal, in 

 spite of diminished body, was soon movinfr actively as before. With a 

 Plcurotrichn the experiment was repeated thrice in succession, mth 

 repeated diminution of the substance, but to the last with power of 

 recovery on restoration of the original conditions. 



New Parasitic Ciliated Infusorian.* — Dr. G. Cattanco describes a 

 new species of ciliated Infusorian whicli was found parasitic in the blood 

 of ('aninHS msenas. It apjiears to belong to the holotrichous family 

 Enchelyidaj, and to Cohn's geuiis Anojihri/s ; it may be called A. Maggii. 

 Tie body is oval and elongated, 35-45 y^t by 10-12 yj, rounded posteriorly, 

 while the anterior part is recurved like a beak, beneath which is the 

 oral opening. It may bo noted that the two species already described, 

 A. carniiim and A. sarco^haga, live in sea-water in which there is decom- 

 posing flesh. 



Fresh-water Infusoria of Wellington District, New Zealand.! — 

 Mr. W. M. Maskell observes that there is often no absolute stability, 

 even in the same individuals, among Infusoria, The members of the 

 Wellington Microscopical Section have, therefore, thought it best to 

 avoid describing as new any species about which there might be doubt. 

 He contrasts this with the method adopted by Prof. A. C. Stokes in 

 dealing with American Infusoria. 



Euglena.;}:— M. A. G. Garcin states that this note is brought forward 

 in order to throw some light on the vegetable nature of the genus 

 Eiiglena. Euglcna either divides by bipartition, or else becomes rounded 

 off and forms a cyst. The cyst at a given moment bursts, and by the 

 opening thus made a crowd of small Euglcnse escape, being formed by 

 the division of the encysted protoplasm ; they enlarge and become 

 rapidly similar to their parents. The author then describes the develop- 

 ment of Euglcnae in a humid atmosphere, in which alone it takes i)lace. 

 It commences by rounding off and forming a cyst with a thin wall ; then, 

 after resting a certain time, this cyst divides into two. The bipaititiou 

 continues by a process which might be compared to the segmentation in 

 the egg of Mammifers. The author then compares Euglena with 

 Protococcus viridis. The cell of Protococcus is compared with the cyst 

 of Euglena ; both are green and globular, and both i)ossess a membrane 

 of cellulose. In a humid atmosphere the cells of both 2)roduce, by 

 re])eated bipartition of the protoplasm, a mass of immobile spores. 



'i'he author concludes by stating that Euglena is an alga of the family 

 Siphonefe (tribe Seiadieje). The thallus is a globular cell (cyst) which, 

 after having vegetated, gives rise to a crowd of zoospores, which enlarge 

 and round off and reproduce the thallus. 



New Monad, Endobiella Bambekii.§— Dr. C. de Bruyne has found 

 in the cells of Chara a monad which he has called alter Prof. E. Bambcke. 

 The cultivation method consists in placing some of the pale cells of 

 Chara vulgaris in a moist chamber wherein the parasites could be 

 examined during several days. The development of bacteria was pre- 

 vented by means of some green algae. The parasite has three stages of 



* Zool. Anzei-r., xi. (1888) pp. 4.iG-9. 



t Ann. and Mag. Xat. Hist., ii. (1888) pp. 275-6. 



J Morf't's Jonrn. de Bot., ii. (1S88) pp. 241-0. 



§ Centralbl. f. liakteriol. u. rarnsitei.k., iv. (1888) pp. 1-5 (1 pi.). 



