240 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



search for small forms and was eminently successful in my exami- 

 nation of Trygon centrura and Carcharias obscurus. In the 

 course of these researches a great many encysted forms were 

 obtained. These were most abundant in the Teleostei. The 

 parts most affected were the peritoneum, liver, submucous and 

 muscular coats of the stomach and intestine. Many species of 

 Trematods, Nematods and Acanthocephala were also found. So 

 far as my investigations teach, it appears that very few of the 

 Cestoid entozoa offish pass their adult stage in specifically differ- 

 ent hosts. With regard to the encysted form, however, the 

 range of hosts appears to be greater. 



Probably the most interesting result obtained from these re- 

 searches is the demonstration of a somewhat complicated nervous 

 system in Rhodobothrium pulvinatum. This in brief consists of 

 a squarish ganglion in the head at the base of the pedicels con- 

 nected by paired commissures with smaller ganglia of which 

 there is one in each of the four pedicels. From the latter ganglia 

 smaller branches proceed to the cushion-like bothria. Two 

 lateral branches originate with the principal ganglion, extend 

 back through the neck and presumably continue into the bodj T . 

 Transverse sections made through the head and neck of a Tetra- 

 rhynchobothrhan show that the walls of the contractile bulbs are 

 very thick and are composed of several diagonally interlacing 

 layers of muscles. In these sections the central retractor muscle 

 of the proboscides was seen to be made up of a number of fine 

 longitudinal fibers. What was interpreted as nerves were also 

 seen lying one beside each proboscis sheath and communicating 

 with the anterior ends of the contractile bulbs. 

 ' Acknowledgments should here be made to my wife, Margaret 

 B. Linton, for the sketches (XV Plates), which accompany the 

 report and which will doubtless be found to be of more value in 

 establishing the identity of species than the written descriptions. 



Washington, Pa., Nov. 9, 1888. 



Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



1. Photographic Map of the Normal Solar Spectrum. — Phys- 

 icists will be interested in the announcement that a new and 

 greatly improved edition of the map of the solar spectrum by 

 Professor Rowland, extending from the extreme ultra violet down 

 to and including B to wave-length 6950, is now ready. There 

 are ten plates, lettered from a to j, each 3X2 feet and containing 

 two strips of the spectrum. Of these teu, all are ready except 

 the first, from wave-length 3350 to the extremity of the spec- 

 trum; the work on this may be accomplished this summer and it 

 will be sold as an extra plate. The charge for single plates is 

 $2.50 and for the set of nine (b to J) |18.00. Subscribers to the 

 old edition will have the preference in the delivery of the new one 

 and a reduction of 10 per cent in the price. The three plates h, i, 

 j, to complete their set, will be furnished for $6.00, or the four, g, 

 h, i,j for $8.00. 



