30 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



lakes and ponds, and placed his material, collected 

 presumably with a net, at once in alcohol, with the 

 inevitable result that the rotifers were 'all hopelessly 

 contracted. Only forty-five species are enumerated 

 as occurring in Syria, of which the following eleven 

 are described as new : — Floscularia brachyura, Oecistes 

 syriacus. Rotifer forficatus, Notops macrourus, Adactyla 

 veriucosa, Nctholca orientalis, Brachionus melhemi; B. 

 obcsus, B. bursarius, B. piriformis, B. caudatus. 



In the description of these eleven new species 

 there are some evident errors which, in the interest 

 of science, it is necessary to point out. It is greatly 

 to be regretted that Dr. Daday should have made 

 a number of new species out of dehydrated soft- 

 bodied forms, contracted out of all shape, and of 

 which neither the description nor the figures give 

 any of the characters which will enable one, or the 

 authors themselves, to recognize them in the living 

 state. As the original paper is not readily ac- 

 cessible, I have reproduced here all the principal 

 figures, and I add the original diagnosis to enable 

 the reader to judge of the value of these new species. 

 Floscularia brachyura, sp. n. (Fig. i). Diagnosis: 

 Foot rudimentary, terminating in a curved hook, 

 case absent. 



All that can be said of this figure is that it 

 represents a fioscule, and it can be almost an} 7 one 

 of the twenty-six known species, but possibly a 

 free-swimming kind, of which there are three. The 

 cursed hook-like structure can very well be the 

 remainder of the dehydrated foot or the rest of the 

 peduncle which several species possess. Without 

 a knowledge of the shape and number of the lobes, 

 it is quite impossible to say that this is a new species. 

 Oecistes syriacus, sp. n. (Fig. 4). Diagnosis: Dorsal 

 antenna single, foot long, case granular. 



It is quite impossible for any one to say if this 

 figure represents an Oecistes, Limnias, or even 

 Melicerta, as the form of the trochal disc is quite 

 unknown. The single " dorsal " antenna is really 

 ventral, as the figure shows it clearly on the 

 opposite side to which the cloaca is situated, and 

 the latter is always dorsal in rotifers. In fact, the 

 dorsal antenna in these three genera is always 

 single, and very minute, whilst the ventral antennae 

 are often long and always two in number. If this 

 animal only shows one ventral antenna is it not 

 more than probable that the other is hidden by the 

 complete contraction, or lost by the mode of 

 preservation ? However this may be, this animal 

 cannot possibly stand as a new species. 



Rotifer forficatus, sp. n. (Fig. 2). Diagnosis : Foot 

 cylindric, the two spurs of penultimate segment of 

 foot long and lanceolate, the two pointed toes 

 forceps-shaped. 



This figure can represent a Callidina, or Philodina, 

 as well as a member of the genus Rotifer. Only the 

 forceps-shaped toes are notable, provided their 

 shape is not due to the alcohol. 



Notops macrourus, sp. n. (Fig. 3). Diagnosis: 

 Body oval, foot long and stout, toes broad and 



pointed. 



This figure can very well represent Notops brachi- 

 onus when in a state of complete collapse ; the skin 

 is very soft and will assume all kinds of shapes 

 when placed in alcohol. 



Adactyla verrucosa, sp. and gen. nov. (Fig. 5). 

 Diagnosis : Body elongated, furnished with strong 

 longitudinal furrows ; foot with two joints, last 

 joint terminated by a disc-shaped opening ; toes 

 absent. 



This can represent any one of the larger 

 Notommatadae — the head and toes retracted inside 

 the body, and the whole completely shrivelled up 

 by the dehydrating action of the alcohol. 



It is really a great pity that these forms should 

 have been described as new species when not one 

 of the characters necessary to identify the living 

 animals is known. This can only be characterised 

 as useless work, encumbering the list of species of 

 rotifers with names with which the systematist 

 does not know what to do, and which finally will 

 have to be ignored. 



We now come to the new species of loricated 

 rotifers, the lorica of which has, of course, been 

 better preserved by the alcohol. 



Notholca orientalis, sp. n. (Fig. 8). Diagnosis: 

 Lorica shield-shaped, posterior end with a round 

 opening, occipital margin elevated in the middle, 

 mental margin undulate with sinus in the centre. 



This animal, as represented by Dr. Daday's figure 

 is no other than Pompholyx complanata of Gosse. 

 In the text, Dr. Daday says, " the posterior part of 

 the lorica is pierced hy a round opening for the 

 passage of the foot." This is a strange statement 

 and evidently a lapsus, as no species of Notholca 

 has a foot, and " foot wholly wanting " is a char- 

 acter of the family Anuraeadae, of which Nctholca 

 is a genus, so that a rotifer with a foot cannot be 

 a Notholca. Pompholyx also has no foot, and the 

 round opening in the lorica is there for the passage 

 of the eggs, which are carried about suspended on 

 elastic threads. 



Brachionus melhemi, sp. n. (Figs. 13 and 14). This 

 species is not new ; it is a common variety of 

 B. bakeri, such as is often found in the neighbour- 

 hood of London, and I have long possessed a 

 mounted slide of it. It is well known that in the 

 genus Brachionus the size and shape of the anterior 

 and posterior spines, as well as the stippling of the 

 lorica, are subject to very considerable variation, 

 so much so, that even B. brevispinus, Ehrgb., with the 

 posterior spines much reduced, can be considered 

 a variety of B. bakeri, as intermediate forms are 

 found, and one such intermediate variety has been 

 named B. rhenanus by Lanterborn. A constant 

 character of B. bakeri, which, unfortunately, is not 

 mentioned in the description of that species in 



