January i, 1892. J 



SCIENCE. 



1 1 



fact, of the Discotnedusas in general, are still in dispute, and at 

 my suggestion Mr. Bigelow undertook to trace the life history of 

 our Cassiopea, a line of research for which the studies which he 

 has pursued for nearly three years under my direction, on the 

 structure of Discomedusae, rendered him well qualified. He found 

 the larvffi of Cassiopea on marine plants among the adults, and as 

 these lived iu captivity and set frge peculiar planiila-like buds, 

 which also lived and grew in small aquaria in the house, he was 

 able to obtain a fairly complete series of young stages. The most 

 interesting results of his study of the living larree are the discov- 

 ery of this peculiar method of budding, and the settlement of the 

 question as to the origin and homology of the sense organs of 

 adult DiscomeduPcB, which he has proved to be the modified basal 

 portions of certain tentacles of the attached larvae. This is sup- 

 plementary to, and in amplification of, Mr. Bigelow's former 

 woik on the development of the sense organs in other groups of 

 medusae. While at Port Henderson he watched the larvae undergo 

 their metamorphosis, and he made drawings from life of the im- 

 portant stages. He is now completing his work by the study of 

 serial sections of the larvas, and of the organs of the adult. This 

 work, which is now well under way, gives promise of results of 

 very great interest, and I regard it as a very noteworthy piece of 

 work, as it will be, when completed and published with ample 

 illustrations, a permanent and valuable addition to our knowledge 

 of the medusae. 



As I had hoped to find Chiton with eggs, Mr. Metcalf wer-t to 

 Jamaica prepared to study its development. We found several 

 species of Chiton in great abundance on the rocks at Port Hender- 

 son, close to our laboratory. Within a few hours after his arrival 

 he obtained the eggs, and soon had a series of larvae, at all stages 

 of development, living in the house in small aquaria. He devoted 

 the season to the study of the living larvae, and to the preservation 

 of material for sections. He is now continuing the work at our 

 laboratory in Baltimore, and he has constructed a series of enlarged 

 models from his sections, to exhibit the process of. segmentation of 

 the egg of Chiton. 



We found ourselves well placed at Port Henderson for studying 

 the Termites, or so-called white ants, and Mr. Knower. who had 

 at my suggestion prepared himself for this work before leaving 

 Baltimore, spent his summer in observing their habits, and in col- 

 lecting the eggs and larvae, as well as the adults of the different 

 castes. He preserved a fine collection of these specimens, for em- 

 liryological and anatomical work, and he is now engaged in the 

 prosecution of this portion of his research 



Mr. Field continued at Port Henderson the study of the embry- 

 ology ot Echinoderms, upon which be has heen engaged for two 

 years past, and he added to his collection the eggs and larvae of a 

 number of forms of which he previously had no representation. 



Mr. Morgan spent a great deal of his time in gathering and 

 studying material bearing on the problem of metamerization in 

 animals, and in this connection he collected the adults and embryos 

 of Chiton, Ophiurans, etc. He also obtained at several places in 

 the interior of the island a number of eggs from a species of tree 

 frog, which has no tadpole stage, but hatches from the egg as a 

 little frog. Some of these were kept in the laboratory in wet 

 moss until they hatched, while others were preserved at successive 

 embryonic stages. He was so fortunate as to obtain a very com- 

 plete series of stages, and inasmuch as its development has never 

 been studied, there is every reason to hope that most valuable 

 results will be obtained by the thorough study of this material. 



Some ten years ago I found at Beaufort an interesting Crusta- 

 •cean, Lucifer, whose metamorphosis is most remarkable and in- 

 structive. I obtained a few eggs, and reared the newly hatched 

 larvae, and traced the metamorphosis with exhaustive minuteness 

 from the time of batching to maturity ; and my results, with ample 

 illustrations, were presented to the Royal Society of London by 

 Professor Huxley, and were published in the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions. This work, which was among the first fruits of our ma- 

 rine laboratory, is now embodied in all the standard text-books. 



I was not able, at Beaufort, to obtain enough eggs of Lucifer to 

 study the embryology, although the few which I did find showed 

 that this part of its life history is fully as important as the meta- 

 morphosis. 1 have been upon the watch ever since for a chance 



to obtain a supply of eggs, in order to supplement my first memoir 

 on the metamorphosis by a second on the embryology; but while 

 I have occasionally found Lucifer with eggs, out at sea, I liave had 

 no opportunity to study it, as the preparation of the material pre- 

 sents such difficulties that it cannot be carried on at sea. The 

 adult animals are so small that they are almost invisible, and the 

 eggs, which are microscopic, are so loosely attached and so deli- 

 cate, that they are lost in the act of capturing the adults. I was 

 greatly pleased to find Lucifer in abundance, and by going out in 

 a boat and collecting the adults with great care, and taking them 

 carefully home, I was so fortunate as to find some thirty or forty 

 with eggs, and these I kept in aquaria long enough to obtain a 

 tolerably complete series of stages in the embryonic development. 

 I am now engaged in the study of this material, and I hope to have 

 an account of the embryology of Lucifer completed within a year. 

 My success in obtaining these eggs is an ample return for the ex- 

 pedition to Jamaica. 



These are some of the subjects upon which we hope to contribute 

 original scientific knowledge, as the result of our summer in 

 Jamaica; but, be ides its value to science, the expedition had very 

 great educational value to all of us. We saw for ourselves an 

 endless variety of most intei'esting and instructive natural objects, 

 which we had previously known only from books or preserved 

 specimens, and every hour was filled with most delightful experi- 

 ences of the greatest value to naturalists and teachers of natural 

 science. I am sure that all the members of our party will be glad 

 to join me in expressing our high appreciation of the great advan- 

 tage which we have enjoyed in the opportunity to spend a summer 

 in laboratory work at the seaside in Jamaica. 



After our return to Baltimore, a series of public lectures, illus- 

 trated by specimens and photographs, was given by members of 

 the party, under the auspices of the Naturalists' Field Club of the 

 University. 



The lectures were as follows : The Aspects of Natuie in Jamaica, 

 by W. K. Brooks; the Zoology of Jamaica, by E A. Andrews; 

 the Natural History of Termites, by H. M Knower; the Botany 

 of Jamaica, by B. W. Barton ; and the People of Jamaica, by Basil 

 Sellers. W. K. Brooks. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



The " Browning Cyclopaedia,'' which has been in preparation 

 by t)r. Edward Berdoe, author of "Browning's Message to His 

 Time," will be published very shortly by Macmillan & Co. It is 

 probably the most generally useful of all the aids to the study of 

 Browning as yet attempted. 



— Ignatius Donnelly's new book will be entitled "The Cipher 

 in the Plays and on the Tombstone." It is to place the truth of 

 the belief in a cipher beyond controversy. 



— Mrs. Laurence Gomme is engaged upon a book of children's 

 games, and also upon a volume dealing with the various local 

 feasten and ceremonial cakes, both of which subjects were rather 

 prominent at the recent Folk-Lore Congress. 



— T. Y. Crowell & Co. have just issued the fifth and concluding 

 volume of Sybel's work on " The Founding of the German Empire 

 by William I." The volume contains, besides the text, thirty 

 pages of index and ten pages of chronological data. 



— " Homilies of Science" is the title of a volume, by Dr. Paul 

 Carus, from the Open Court Publishing Company, consisting of a 

 collection of short editorial articles discussing religious, moral, 

 and social questions from the standpoint of what might briefly be 

 characterized as the religion of science. 



— The oflSce of Tlie Publishers' Weekly will publish at once a 

 useful hand-book for the bookseller and librarian, entitled " A 

 Bookseller's Lil.rary. and How to Use It," by A. Growoll. The 

 volume contains annotated lists of the principal American, English, 

 German, and French book-trade catalogues, trade and literarj- 

 journals, leading library and auction catalogues, catalogues of 

 dealers in second-band books with mention of their specialties, 

 etc. These lists are accompanied by concise and practical hints as 

 to how they may best be used, and the volume thus forms a de- 

 sirable manual, particularly for the young bookseller. 



