52 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 2. 



In tlie course of development two polar globules are 

 formed. Segmentation is complete but unequal. 

 There is a well-marlved gastrula; the larva is com- 

 pletely formed, except the sexual organs, upon leaving 

 the egg. Korschelt attempts to show a relationship 

 of Dinophilus with the rotifers. (K. labors under 

 several serious misapprehensions as to the character- 

 istics of Rotifera. ) — {Zeitschr. loiss. zooL, xxxvii. 315). 



In a supplementary note he calls attention to the 

 fact that Metschnikoff, in an article on the Ortho- 

 nectidae {Zeitschr. loiss. zool., 1881, 299), had previ- 

 ously made mention of the sexual dimorphism of 

 Dinophilus. — {Zeitschr. wiss. zool., xxxvii. 702.) 

 C. s. M. [147 



Parasites of elephants. — In siiite of the impor- 

 tance of elephants as domestic animals, very little 

 is known of their parasites. Cobbold has published 

 a list of the species known at jpresent, with descrip- 

 tions and annotations. He mentions the following : 

 Ascaris loiichoptera ; Sclerostoma sipunculiforme ; 

 Strongylus elathratus ; S. foliatus n. sp. ; S. falcifer, 

 n. sp. ; Dochmius sangeri, n. sj). ; Filaria Smithii, 

 n. sp. ; Amphistoma Btawkesii ; A. ornatum, n. sp. ; 

 A. papillatum, n. sp. ; Fasciola Jacksoni; making 

 eleven species of helminths, besides which there are 

 known three insect parasites, — a bot, Gastrophilus 

 elephantis ; a huge louse, Htematomyzus elephantis ; 

 and a mite, Homopus (Symbiotes) elephantis. The 

 paper closes witli a few practical considerations, of a 

 necessarily desultory chai-acter, on the parasitic dis- 

 eases of elephants. — {Trans. Linn. soc. Load., zool., 

 ii. pt. 4, 223. ) c. s. M. [148 



Coleoptera of Cincinnati. — A supplementary 

 list of 167 species is added to the 1,419 of his earlier 

 catalogue by C. Dury. No notes are added. — {Journ. 

 Cine. soc. nat. hist., v. 218). [149 



Rearing Tortricidae. — Some good hints as to the 

 best means of rearing larvae of this group are given 

 by C. G. Barrett; the main secret of course being 

 how longest to preserve succulent leaves from either 

 moulding or withering when removed from the 

 plant. — {Ent. monihl. mag., No. 224.) [150 



Transformations of Endotrioha flammealis, — 

 An excellent life history of this pyralid moth is traced 

 with care by W. Buckler, the transformations being 

 previously unknown. The eggs are laid in varying 

 situations late iu July ; the caterpillar, which is 

 strongly given to cannibalism when reared in con- 

 finement, hatches early in August, and in September 

 conceals itself, when not feeding, in a singular web ; 

 this is partitioned into several chambers, often as 

 many as from three to five, One above the other, 

 openly wrought, the larva occupying different cham- 

 Ijers indiscriminately, curled tail over head. The 

 larva generally hibernates, becomes full fed in May, 

 and appears on the wing in July. — (Ent, monthl. mar/., 

 No. 223. ) [151 



Moths of New Mexico. — A list of 98 species 

 collected by F. H. Snow is given by A. R. Grote, with 

 descriptions of new forms, and preceded by some 

 general remarks. He finds an admixture of sub- 

 tropical forms, with some " rej)resentatives of Eu- 

 ropean species not yet found near either our western 

 or eastern seaboards," mentioning particularly a 

 species of Copimamestra. A summary of the char- 

 acters used in establishing genera in the Noctuidae, 

 the author's special study, is added. — {Ann. mag. 

 nat. hist, Jan., 1883.) [152 



Oviposition in Argynnis. — Dr. Henry Skinner 

 called attention to a curious departure from the usual 

 habit of lepidoptera in the case of Argynnis Cybele, 



which drops its eggs from a height upon grass and 

 violet leaves, instead of depositing them, as in the 

 case of all other species known to him, upon the 

 leaves of the plant upon which the insect is to feed, — 

 {Acad, nat. sc. Philad.; meeting Jan. 23.) [153 



VERTEBRATES. 



Destruction of red blood corpuscles in the 

 liver. — It has long been supposed that the red blood 

 gloliules were to a great extent broken up in the 

 liver, giving rise, among other things, to the bile 

 pigments. The experimental proof, however, has 

 been unsatisfactory. R. Nicolaides finds on careful 

 enumeration, by Melassez's method, of the corpuscles 

 in blood drawn from the portal and Iiepatic veins of 

 rabbits, dogs, and cats, that the number is always 

 much less in the hepatic vein. — {Archiv. de physiol., 

 X. 1882.) ir. N. M. [154 



Electrical irritability of the spinal cord. — 

 Schiff contributes new experiments on this much- 

 disputed point. His general conclusion is, that no 

 directly irritable elements can be demonstrated in the 

 spinal cord, apart from the paths of the nerve-roots. 

 — {Pflii(ier's archiv, xxix. 1882.) H. N. M. [155 



Uses of the bile. — From observations made on 

 dogs with biliary fistulae, and carefully prevented from 

 licking up the outflowing bile, F. Rohman concludes 

 that the ill results of excluding this secretion from 

 the intestine have been over-estimated. His ani- 

 mals, when fed on dog-biscuits, remained apparently 

 normal in all regards for weeks: no diarrhoea nor 

 signs of unusual putrefactive decompositions in the 

 intestine occurred; nor did ill results follow adding a 

 moderate amount of flesh or of fat to the diet. Much 

 flesh or fat, however, caused digestive disturb.ances 

 after a few days. When soap was given, these were 

 very marked and severe. The intestine deprived of 

 bile can very well serve to do all necessary for the 

 maintenance of the bodily functions; but it is so far 

 in an abnormal state as to have its power of resisting 

 injury, or indiscretion in diet, greatly diminished. 



As regards the absorption of fats, he finds, as others, 

 that this is much diminished when the bile is drained 

 off through a fistula, ^'ery little of the uiiabsorbed 

 fat, however, leaves the body as such; the greater 

 part of it being broken up, so that the excreta con- 

 tain muclx free fatty acids. Possibly the unusual 

 accumulation of these in the intestine is the imme- 

 diate cause of its special liability to lesion. — {Pflii- 

 ger's archiv, xxix. 1882.) h. n. m. [156 



Birds, 

 Contributions to the anatomy of birds. — .The 



osteological papers of Dr. Shufeldt, originally printed 

 in the T,welfth annual report of the U. S. geological 

 survey, have also been separately published. The 

 papers on tlie burrowing owl, the horned lark, the 

 Tetraonidae, and the slirike, need but little comment, 

 since they have been published some time. We 

 notice, however, the addition of woodcuts of tlie live 

 birds, and certain changes in the text. 



The last paper, that on the Cathartidae, is of 

 much later date. The descriptions are based on a 

 good supply of skeletons in the Smithsonian museum 

 and in the Army medical museum. They are illus- 

 trated by several plates and woodcuts. Special points 

 of interest are the extensive air-canals, the solidity of 

 the atlas, the variations of the sternum in the same 

 species, the presence of a claw on the ungual phalanx 

 of the first digit. The author finally concludes that 

 the present division into genera is justified from an 

 osteological point of view. He also agrees that there 

 is no close relationship between the old and new 



