August 10, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



231 



tional ; in A. fragilis it seems to be the normal 

 condition. My reason for this opinion is that 

 the nephridial papilla, which appears to func- 

 tion as a penis, is present in all individuals. 

 This papilla is much larger in A. fragilis than 

 in any other Acmsea with which I am acquainted, 

 reaching even in the contracted state almost to 

 the edge of the mantle ; it is highly muscular 

 and richly provided with large blood sinuses. 

 These facts point to its use as an intromittent 

 organ and if this be conceded, then its uni- 

 versal presence would indicate that every in- 

 dividual is at some time functionally a male. 



But however this may be, hermaphroditism 

 either as a regular or as an exceptional condi- 

 tion has already been described in two Doco- 

 glossa so that the case of Bathysciadium is the 

 third rather than the first recorded instance. 



M. A. WiLLCOX. 



Wood's Holl, Mass. , Jnly 25, 1900. 



SOME BECENT BEPOBTS OF FOBEIGN 

 MUSEUMS. 



The report of the South African Museum for 

 1899 notes the completion of a new wing and 

 the opening of a new hall containing a collec- 

 tion of South African rocks, minerals and fos- 

 sils, while the number of visitors was over 

 88,000, a gain of 7000 over the previous ye&r. 

 As the appropriation for the Museum is only 

 £2500 the increase of the collections is mainly 

 dependent on gifts, and although a special ap- 

 propriation of £2000 for the purchase of speci- 

 mens was made in 1895 this is now exhausted. 

 The progress made is as rapid as could be hoped 

 for under the circumstances, but one can well 

 sympathize with the remark of Mr. Peringuey, 

 in charge of the entomological collections, that 

 the chance of obtaining a thorough representa- 

 tion of the insect fauna of South Africa during 

 the modest span of life usually allotted to man, 

 seems to grow more and more distant. 



The Museum has just issued the first part of 

 the second volume of its Annals which is de- 

 voted to 'A Collection of Slugs from South 

 Africa, with Descriptions of New Species ' by 

 Walter E. Collinge. Two well-known species 

 are added to the fauna of South Africa while 

 four species are described as new ; Amalia pon- 



senbyi, Apera natalensis, Oopelfa flavescens and 

 0. granulosa. 



The report of the Museum of Oxford Univer- 

 sity for 1899 indicates much progress in educa- 

 tional woi-k and scientific research, as well as 

 in the growth and arrangement of the collec- 

 tions. Three new buildings are in course of 

 construction, the Laboratory of Animal Mor- 

 phology and Botany, the Pathological Labora- 

 tory and the Radcliffe Library. Accessions to 

 the well-known Pitt-Rivers Museum of Eth- 

 nology have been the most numerous, although 

 exceeded in number of individual specimens by 

 the insects added to the Hope Collection in 

 charge of Professor Poulton. Our own scientific 

 schools may derive some comfort from the small 

 number of students who seem to have attended 

 many of the courses of lectures, and when Pro- 

 fessor Tylor reports a class varying from four 

 to six undergraduates others have little reason 

 to expect more. 



Part one of volume three of the Boletim do 

 Museu Paraense contains the report of the Direc- 

 tor for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1898, 

 together with other papers. The Zoological and 

 Botanical Gardens of Para are included in this 

 report and these, as well as the Museum proper, 

 seem to be in a flourishing condition, while as 

 the visitors during the year numbered some- 

 what over 75,000, the Museum would seem to 

 be appreciated by the public. The average 

 number of animals in the Garden has been 

 something over 400, representing 130 species, 

 and the Botanic Garden gives a list of 531 

 species of plants. Attention is called to the 

 fact that the Museum publications represent but 

 a portion of the work of the staff as numerous 

 articles are published in foreign scientific 

 journals. 



The Para Museum has just issued as the first 

 of its memoirs, in quarto form, an account by 

 the Director, Dr. Goeldi, of the exploration of 

 the mortuary vaults constructed by a former 

 race of Indians on the banks of the Kio Cunany, 

 and of the pottery found therein. These vaults 

 or pits were about seven feet deep and half 

 that in diameter, closed above by a granite 

 disk, and at the bottom expanding into a 

 somewhat hemispherical chamber in which the 



