Notes and Memoranda. 239 



survives in the smaller domestic races. In no case has it been 

 found in association with Saxon remains. The inferences to be 

 drawn about it are, first, that it has not yet been proved ^ to have 

 existed before the pre-historic age ; and, second, that it is the 

 ancestor of the small Highland and Welsh breeds. It is essentially 

 the animal with which the archceologists have to deal, and its only 

 claim for insertion in geological catalogues is the fact of its occur- 

 rence in the most modern of all the stratified deposits. 



ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. -M arch 13. 

 James Grlaisher, Esq., E.R.S., in the Chair. 



A paper was read by Dr. Mcintosh describing gregariniferous 

 parasites found in Borlasia. Mr. Jabez Hogg alluded to the absurd 

 stories in the Times and other papers concerning the gregarina3 in 

 the chignons. He stated that empty egg-shells of the louse had 

 been discovered on dirty specimens, and in some other cases a 

 fungoid growth that is associated with ringworm. 



Mr. Whitney read a highly valuable and instructive paper on 

 the development of the breathing organs of the tadpole, which he 

 illustrated by a series of large and beautifully-executed diagrams. 

 He showed how the internal gills grew, and caused the atrophy of 

 the external ones by interrupting their blood supply. The internal 

 gills could be seen by stupefying the tadpole by means of a drop of 

 chloroform, and then dexterously cutting away the integument. 

 When fully developed they exhibited beautifully ramified tufts, with 

 efferent and afferent vessels. The true lungs were quite distinct 

 from these internal gills, and were developed at a later period. 



It was announced that the annual soiree of the Society would 

 take place at King's College, on the 24th of April. 



NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 



Polyps op the Hyalonema. — At an excellent soiree recently given by the 

 Old Change Microscopical Society, Mr. Tyler exhibited specimens of the polyp 

 cells attached to the glass rope of the Hyalonema sponge, with the zoanthoid polyps 

 in situ. His preparations seem quite decisive in favour of the views of Brandt and 

 Schulze, supported in our pages by Professor Wyville Thomson, and conclusive 

 against the opinion of Dr. Bowerbank, that the supposed polyp cells were excretory 

 oriGces of the sponge. In the Annals of Natural History for March, Max. Schultze 

 has a paper to vindicate his views of the Hyalonema, in which most naturalists 

 coincide. He speaks of the close resemblance in structure between the long 

 spicules and the shorter ones forming the body of the sponge. With reference to 

 fhe polyps (■palythoa), he states that Oscar Schmidt has found a similar polyp para- 

 sitic upon a sponge in the Adriatic. lie also alludes to the way in which the 

 feolyps themselves with their thread capsules may be made visible, as in Mr. 

 Tyler's preparations. 



Photographing the Moon. — The Lunar Committee of the British Associa- 

 tion have issued a series of tables prepared by the Secretary, Mr. Birt, to show the 

 most favourable periods for photographing, or drawing particular parts. Observers 



