y/. 



794 General Notes. ** [July, 



mals, probably fish. Since then they have (through Mr. R. D. 

 Derbyshire) 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 ex- 

 planation 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 impu- 

 nity. As the specimens examined were not in a thoroughly sat- 

 isfactory 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 Richiardi and Kolliker, that Fiiniculina 

 forbesi^ the supposed British species, is only the immature form 

 of F. quadrangiilaris, which is well known from the Mediter- 

 ranean. The most complete example from Oban is only thirty- 

 nine inches long, but at Hamburg there is a stem eighty-nine 

 inches in length. 



The foregoing notice has been taken from the Journal of the 

 Royal Microscopical Society. Having received from the authors 

 a copy of the book, we can bear testimony to the excellence of 

 the plates. The authors quote Dalyell's statement that Virgularia 

 when in captivity ** remains contracted during the greater part of 

 the day, and the organs are seldom displayed before five or six in 

 the afternoon;" but the authors with more reason suggest that 

 Pennatula appears to be ** nocturnal " when brought to the sur- 

 face, "simply because the amount of light it receives in broad 

 daylight is vastly in excess of what it receives normally at the 

 sea bottom, and that it is only towards evening that it is placed 

 under what to it are normal conditions as to amount of light." 



The authors are strongly in favor of the now generally accepted 

 view that Pennatula lives upright, planted in the sea bottom. 



As regards the phosphorescence observed in the majority of 

 the Pennatulida, P, phosphorea receiving its name from having this 

 property, the authors say : " This was well seen in the Oban 

 specimens while living; the more perfect female specimens when 

 suspended in a jar of sea water in the dark, and irritated or ex- 

 cited by gently brushing the leaves, exhibited a fine display of 

 phosphorescence, the different polj^pes, when touched, showing 

 minute brilliant points of light which appeared to flash over the 

 whole surface of the feather in rapid irregular corruscations." 

 Panceri's observations on this subject are adopted, and his views 

 presented at some length. 



Hetkrogenetic Development in Diaptomus, etc., Correc- 

 tions. — The editors kindly allow me space to make the following 

 emendations to the article entitled Heterogenetic Development in 

 Diaptomus, rendered necessary by an unfortunate loss of proof in 

 the mail. 



Cyclops pectinatus (p. 499) should have stood " C. thoinasi 



