ON THE REGENERATION OF THE VISCERAL MASS 

 IN ANTE DON ROSACE VS. 



By Arthur Dendy, B.Sc. s Associate of the Owens College. 



It lias been known for a long time that the visceral mass of certain 

 species of Comahdce is separable from the calyx with great ease. 

 Thus Fabius Columna in 1592, speaking of the visceral mass of 

 Antedon, says: "ipsum vero et facillime disjungitur a Stella." 1 This 

 passage is quoted by Dr. W. B. Carpenter in his memoir on Antedon 

 rosaceus. 2 The separation of the visceral mass is easily brought about 

 artificially, as mentioned by Professor Milnes Marshall in his paper on 

 the nervous system of Antedon rosaceus \ % and in some species it has 

 been observed, on the Challenger expedition, 4 by Dr. Carpenter, 5 and 

 by myself, that the animals are not infrequently dredged up without 

 any visceral masses at all, these latter, in like manner, being some- 

 times dredged up by themselves. 



Not only do these Comatuke thus easily part with their visceral 

 masses, but it has been shown that Comatuke which have lost their 

 visceral masses have the remarkable power of developing new ones 

 (this has been proved for A ntedon rosaceus alone). This fact, suspected 

 by Dr. Carpenter many years ago, 6 was observed by Professor Marshall 



1 Phytobasanus, sive Plantarum aliquot Hisloria, by Fabius Columna, Neapoli, 1592. 



2 Phil. Trans. Royal Soc, 1866. 



3 "On the Nervous System of Antedon rosaceus? Quart. Journ. Micr. So., July 1884. 



4 Challenger Report, Narrative of Cruise, vol. I., Pt. I., pp. 310—311. 

 s Proc. Royal Soc., Lond., vol. 24, p. 215. 



8 Phil. Trans. Royal Soc, vol. 24, p. 215. 



