ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY^ MICROSCOPY, ETC. 231 



cavity — is transformed into a fully developed intestinal canal which, in 

 Fenja, does not communicate directly with the body-cavity. The fissures 

 found in ^gir do remind us somewhat of the anatomy of the Ctenophora. 

 If the coelom is to be regarded as the decisive feature these two 

 genera must be removed from the Coelenterata ; further research may 

 show that too much stress has been laid on this character, or we may 

 have here only the final stage of a process of development already begun 

 in other Actinida. 



Natural History of Fungia.* — Mr. J. J. Lister has a preliminary 

 notice of his observations on the life-history of Fungia. The young 

 stock has vertical thecal walls ; after a time the upper part begins to 

 widen out, and, after forming a shallow cup, gives rise to a disc, de- 

 pressed in the centre, with the thecal walls facing directly downwards. 

 After the disc is distinctly formed absorption of the calcareous skeleton 

 takes place in a plane at right angles to the axis of the attaching stalk. 

 When the disc becomes free it has a round scar in the middle of the 

 under surface which corresponds to a similar scar at the summit of the 

 stalk. This scar ultimately disappears. The free end of the stalk 

 throws up delicate fluted laininaa which project above the level of the 

 other structures of the scar ; a mouth is formed in the centre, a thecal 

 wall becomes developed round the thecal laminge, and a new cup is 

 formed; this is not a bud, but a product of the gi'owth of the structures 

 already existing in the base of its predecessors. A new disc having been 

 formed its stalk undergoes absorption ; in due course a third disc is 

 formed, the stalk growing in height as the process is repeated. 



Development of Manicina areolata.f— Dr. H. V. Wilson gives a full 

 account of his observations on the development of Manicina areolata, 

 the preliminary notice of which was referred to at the time of its aj)pear- 

 ance.J With regard to the origin of the Anthozoa the author considers 

 that Gotte's objection to the hydroid polyp ancestry of the group is no 

 longer valid. The question whether or no the Anthozoa are descended 

 from hydroid polyps must be argued out on the ground of some more 

 primitive anthozoan development, such as that of Manicina. Here it 

 is at once seen that, contrary to Gotte's idea, the invagination of the 

 oesophagus does not necessitate the formation of endodermal sacs. The 

 surface ectoderm and the oesophagus become apposed along the lines of 

 the first and second mesenteries ; this process, though seen in the 

 Scyphomedusre as well as the Zoantharia, was probably acquired 

 secondarily, and was not a peculiarity of the primitive Anthozoa ; this 

 belief is supported by the entire absence of the process in the Alcyonaria. 

 The explanation of the process is probably connected with the early 

 development of the first pair of filaments. 



Origin of Female Generative Cells in Podoeoryne Sars.§— Mr. C. 

 Ishikawa has studied the history of the development of the female 

 generative cells of Podoeoryne carnea. Weisniann was unable to observe 

 the wandering of the ectodermal cells into the endoderm, but his pupil 

 now brings forward evidence to show that the primordial female germ- 

 cells arise in the ectoderm of the young medusa-bud, and thence wander 



♦ Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xxix. (1888) pp. 359-63. 



t Journal of Morphology, ii. (1888) pp. 191-252 (7 pis.). 



X See this Journal, 1888, p. 434. 



§ Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool., xlvii. (1888) pp. 621-5. 



