432 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Part. Avian Fauna of the Antarctic Region (dealing at length with the 

 Impennes, or penguins, in their geographical and zoological relations). 



Zoological Results of the Barentz Expedition.* — In a volume 

 of rather more than 100 pages, illustrated by seven plates and a map, 

 Drs. Horst, Hoek, Noman, Hubrecht, and Jentinck, give an account 

 of the Annelids, Pycnogonids, Lamellibranchs, Fishes, and Mammals 

 collected by the above expedition to Barentz Sea. 



Fifty-one Annelids belonging to twenty-two families were col- 

 lected, but none of these were new to science. Of the Pycnogonids, 

 Nymphon Sliiiteri is a new form, which was represented by a single 

 specimen. A full account and a figure is given of Colossendeis probos- 

 cidea (Sabine) which has lately been described by Mr. Miers (from 

 Mr. Leigh Smith's collection) as Anomorhynchus Smithii. The body 

 is " highly concentrated," and it is interesting to note that the regular 

 windings of the caecal processes of the intestine may be seen through 

 the chitinous coverings of the legs into which they enter. 



Pecten lucidus and Cardium fragile are the two new Lamelli- 

 branchs ; the author of this portion of the report enters into some 

 anatomical details, and, among other points, describes some special 

 structures which were found between the epithelial cells of the 

 tentacles of Lima elliptica ; these are either rod-shaped filamental 

 cells with a swelling on either side, or are knob-shaped. The 

 enlargements on the former bodies lie, on the outer side, at the 

 level of the epithelium, and on the inner side between the epi- 

 thelial layer and the connective tissue, or within the latter; they 

 are connected by a fine filament with the nervous tissue. The other 

 bodies have their swollen ends projecting outwards, and are con- 

 tinued by a more or less long rod-shaped portion into the internal 

 cell-layer. A transverse section of a tentacle reveals a nerve with a 

 number of nerve-cells in its middle axis, whence the nerve-fibres 

 radiate out in two directions. 



The afferent orifice of the pallial cavity in Modiolaria discors is 

 described as being half closed by a membrane ; on the inner side of 

 this partition there are two muscles, one of which draws the wall in 

 and out, while the other acts as a constrictor. The generative organs 

 of this species are largely placed within the mantle, as in Mytilus 

 edulis. The mantle of the new species C. fragile is transparent, and 

 colourless, save at its edge where it is a little thickened and yellowish ; 

 the afferent and efferent tubes are provided with cirri, which again 

 are beset with fine papillae, formed of large cells and richly pig- 

 mented at their tips. 



After some notes on the digestive tract of the specimens examined, 

 the author turns to the branchiee. He recognizes the filamentar 

 structure of the gills of Pecten, groenlandicus, and finds that those only 

 which belong to the two median lamellsB are fused at their upper 

 ends with one another. On either side of the filaments there are 

 long strong hairs which catch in those of their neighbours ; but there 

 are no interlamellar connections as there are in Mytilus and Area. In 



* Niederl. Arch. Zonl. Suppl. Bd. i. (1881). 



