Febbuaby 23, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



81 



ZOOLOGY. 



Research on the lower invertebrates, during 

 the years 1876-79. — The many American students 

 who have no means of access to the journals of 

 foreign learned societies, or to the periodical litera- 

 ture of zoology, will find, in Prof. Leuckart's sum- 

 mary of the work done ujjon the coelenterates during 

 the years 1876-79, a very valuable abstract of the 

 literature of this subject. Even the favored few who 

 are able to consult the original works should be 

 thankful to Prof. Leuckart for his brief but perfectly 

 intelligible digests. — {Arch, naturgesdi. slv. ii. 591.) 

 W. K. B. [237 



Development of the tentacles of Hydra. — The 

 great variability of fresh-water hydras demands that 

 the order of development of the tentacles should be 

 tabulated in a great number of specimens, in order 

 to discover the law of their appearance. Jung has 

 thus studied nearly two hundred and fifty specimens 

 of three species ; and he concludes, that, while there 

 is no fixed order, each species does have a typical or 

 average mode of development, which is more or less 

 closely followed by the majority. The law varies with 

 the species, and the results of Jung's researches are 

 shown in the following diagrams: — 



Hyd 



The vertical line is that axis of the bud which 

 passes through the axis of the parent, and the upper 

 end is the one nearest the body of the parent. The 

 upper series of diagrams shows the typical order of 

 appearance in normal buds of the three species named. 

 This order was followed in 46 % of 1.^6 specimens of 

 H. grisea, In 83% of 7 specimens of H. oligactis, and 

 In 55% of 21 specimens of H. viridis. The second 

 line shows the order of re-appearance in specimens 

 after cutting off the oral end of the body with the 

 tentacles. It was followed in 69% of 48 specimens 

 of H. grisea, in 3 specimens of H. oligactis, and in 

 57% of 12 specimens of H. viridis. — (Morph^ahrb., 

 viii. 339.) w. k. b. ^ [238 



MoUnsks, 



Trade in Calif ornian invertebrates. — Apart 

 from the trade in oysters, clams, and other ordinary 

 economic moUusks, there are certain specialities 

 peculiar to the Pacific coast which do not appear in 

 the trade-reports of other countries. Among these 

 are 'abalones' (Haliotis californianus and H. splen- 

 dens), the Californian pearl-oyster (Meleagrina cali- 

 fornica), and several j)early univalves (Trochiscus 

 Norrisii and Pachypoma gibberosum), small shells 

 for ornamental purposes, and dried shrimps and 

 shrimp-shells. The last are prepared by the Chinese, 

 who catch them in large quantities, in nets of ex- 

 tremely fiine mesh, by which very many small fish are 

 also destroyed. The shrimps are dried on a mat over 

 an open fire, and when thoroughly desiccated are 

 threshed, the meats separated from the shells, and 

 packed separately. The meats are used as food by 

 the Chinese in all parts of the world. The shells 

 are a particularly energetic fertilizer, superior to 



guano, and are packed in bundles of about 100 pounds 

 weight for exportation to China. The various pearl- 

 bearing shells are used for ornamental purposes, 

 especially buttons. The export of abalones from San 

 Francisco, by sea, in 1882, according to the annual 

 ' market review,' was 4,638 sacks, valued at S23,455, 

 against 4,522 sacks in 1881. They were exported to 

 Germany (50 sacks), China (1,116 sacks), Hawaiian 

 Islands (65 sacks), England (2,982 sacks), and New 

 York (425 sacks), beside shipments eastward by 

 rail. England received 563 barrels of pearl-oysters, 

 and 49 barrels of other shells. The Chinese in South 

 America received 99 packages of shrimp-meats, and 

 those in the Hawaiian Islands 8 packages ; while the 

 enormous quantity of 9,611 packages of shrimps and 

 shrimp-shells were sent to China. — w. H. D. [239 

 Crnstaceaas. 

 Paleozoic allies of Nebalia. — Having discussed 

 its anatomy and development in a previous article, 

 Prof. Packard compares Nebalia with the published 

 figures of some of the paleozoic Ceratiocaridae, and 

 concludes that the fossil forms should be separated 

 from the Nebalidae as a distinct sub-order of Phyllo- 

 carida. Diagnostic characters are given for the order, 

 and differential characters separating them from other 

 Crustacea. The memoir is to appear in full in Hay- 

 den's Twelfth report of the survey of the territories. 



— {Amer. nat., Dec, 1882.) s. i. s. [240 

 Neiw Devonian Crustacea. — J. M. Clarke de- 

 scribes and figures a new genus (Dipterocaris), and 

 three new species of Ceratiocaridae from the Devo- 

 nian, and remarks upon the characters of Spathio- 

 caris and Lisgocaris, and on the wide range of S. 

 Emersonii. — {Amer.jouryi. sc, Feb., 1883.) [241 



Shrimp and pravtrn fisheries. — In an article on 

 the shrimp and prawn fisheries of the U. S., Kichard 

 Rathbun enumerates and remarks upon the edible 

 species, makes suggestions in regard to the capture 

 of some New-England species not now used for food, 

 and then gives a general account of the fisheries of 

 the Atlantic and Gulf, and the Pacific coasts. -^ 

 (Bull. U.S.Jish comm., 1882, 139.) s. I. s. [242 



Parasitic Copepoda. — R. R. Wright describes 

 and figures in detail three species from fresh-water 

 fishes of Canada. He seems to be unacquainted with 

 the descriptions of allied North-American species by 

 Kroyer, Smith, and Packard, with which his species 

 should have been compared. — {Proc. Canadian inst. , 

 n. s., i. Dec, 1882.) s. i. s. [243 



Crustacean allied to Willemoesia. — C. Spence 

 Bate describes a new genus and species (Eryoneicus 

 caecus), taken in 1,675 fath., off the Canaries, by the 

 ' Challenger.' It "approximates closely to Pentache- 

 les, and adds another link between that and Eryon." 



— (Ann. mag. nat. hist., Dec, 1882.) s. i. s. [244 

 Terrestrial Isopoda. — A. E. Eaton states, that 



Platyarthus HoHmanseggii, which is found in ants' 

 nests, and is reputed to be blind, is provided with 

 eyes, and is as sensitive to light as other Oniscidae. — 

 [Ann. mag. nat. hist, Dec, 1882.) s. I. s. [245 



Fauna of mountain lakes. — A. Wierzejski gives 

 an account (in Polish) of the fauna of the lakes of 

 the Tatra moimtains, enumerating eighty species, 

 of which forty-three are Crustacea. Eight species of 

 Cladocera and Copepoda are figured, but no new 

 species are named. — (Spraw. kom. fizyjogr. akad. 

 umiej., Krakow, xvi., 1882.) 



The same author figures and describes the anatomy 

 of Branchinecta paludosa, from the same region, and 

 discusses its geographical distribution. — (Bozpr. 

 akad. umiej. wydz. matem-przyr., Krakow, -a.., 1882.) 

 s. I. s. [246 



