ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 221 



organs of the primary or axial polyp ; the third part treats of the 

 formation of the colony produced by budding from the axial polyp ; 

 and the fourth deals with a few theoretical questions suggested by 

 the phenomena observed. The leading points of the paper as now 

 published are abstracted in 22 sections. 



Scotch Pennatulida.* — Professor Milnes Marshall and Mr. W. P. 

 Marshall give an important and interesting account of the Pennatulida 

 collected in the Oban Dredging Excursion of the Birmingham Natural 

 History and Microscopical Society ; Funiculina quadrangularis, Pen- 

 natula phosphorea, and Virgularia mirabilis were the three forms 

 collected. 



The very primitive nature of the first of these is indicated by the 

 irregular arrangement of the polyps, their independent insertion into 

 the rachis, and in the comparatively slight difference between the 

 polyps and the zooids, as well as by the shortness of the stalk, or part 

 of the colony devoid of polyps. In Pennatula, we have the polyps 

 fused into leaves, and there is a considerable difference in the size of 

 their constituent parts, as well as great anatomical differences between 

 the polyps and the zooids ; the stalk is, also, relatively much longer. 

 Virgularia is shown to be the most modified by the restriction of the 

 reproductive organs to imperfectly developed polyps, and, in addition 

 to these points, by the presence of the so-called radial vessels which are 

 absent from the other two forms. 



A very curious discovery has been made with regard to Virgularia : 

 with but one exception, all the known specimens of Virgularia are 

 mutilated, the lower end being generally and the upper always want- 

 ing ; as a hypothesis, the authors some time ago suggested that the 

 tips were bitten off by some marine animals, probably fish. Since then, 

 they have (through Mr. E. D. Darbishire) been able to examine the 

 contents of a stomach of a haddock, which consisted of five fragments 

 of V. mirabilis ; and of these, three were " actual perfect upper-ends " ; 

 as a possible explanation of this mutilation it is suggested that the 

 apparent absence of stinging-cells from this species is not only apparent 

 but real, so that the fish are enabled to bite at them with impunity. 

 As the specimens examined were not in a thoroughly satisfactory 

 condition for histological study, the question must be examined again 

 with more satisfactory specimens. 



The evidence afforded by the dredging leads to the supposition, 

 already suggested by Eichiardi and KoUiker, that Funiculina forhesi, 

 the supposed British species, is only the immature form of F. quad- 

 rangularis, which is well known from the Mediterranean. The most 

 complete example from Oban is only 39 inches long, but at Hamburg 

 there is a stem 89 inches in length. 



Protozoa. 



Biitschli's Protozoa. — Parts 14-16 of this work have been issued, 

 and are devoted to the Gregarinida ; the plates, however (XXI.- 

 XXVIII.), are still illustrative of the Eadiolaria. With regard to 



* 8vo, Birmingham, 1883, 81 pp. (4 pis.)- 



