wR Moat 
ZOOLOGY. 637 
ted by Huxley) of the worms and echinoderms, it was most 
important that Metznikoff’s observations should be repeated, and 
if possible the genus of annelids, of which Tornaria was the 
young, accurately ascertained. The annelid raised by Metznikotf 
was most peculiar and, in absence of other evidence, he suggested 
the possibility of its being a young Balanoglossus. I have been 
able this summer to raise Tornaria and to obtain young annelids 
somewhat older than those observed by Metznikoff, tracing at the 
same time the development of the branchie as diverticula from 
the esophagus, and also to find the young annelid of Tornaria a 
species of Balanoglossus (of which the adult is quite common at 
low water mark at Newport and at Beverly, Mass.), but slightly 
older than those raised directly from the Tornaria stage. The 
details of this interesting embryology will shortly be published. 
—A. AGASSIZ 
Tue Pecurtar Cororatron or Fishes, mentioned by your cor- 
respondent Richard Bliss, is, it appears to me, susceptible of easy 
explanation. The pigment-cells containing the brilliant crimson, 
orning the skins of cyprinide and other fishes, are rea ily 
opened and closed under excitement and other influences. When 
brilliant Cyprinid are confined in aquaria they speedily lose 
their color by the closing of the cells, but it may be readily re- 
stored by scratching the surface with the point of an instrument, 
Which reopens the cells. Even specimens freshly placed in weak 
alcohol may sometimes be made to display bright color by the 
same process. When the alcohol is strong, it may so contract the 
surrounding tissue as to expose the contents of the cells, as in 
the case observed by Mr. Bliss. —Epw. D. Core. 
A New Species or PASSERCULUS FROM EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 
In December, 1868, I took a sparrow at Ipswich which was then 
supposed to be Centronyx Bairdii. In the autumn of 1870, I took 
two more of the same species, also at Ipswich ; but upon visiting 
the Smithsonian Institution this spring and comparing these speci- 
mens with the original C. Buirdii, I have come to the conclusion 
that they are specifically distinct. They are closely allied to the 
Savanna sparrow and evidently belong to the same genus; I 
therefore propose to name the Massachusetts bird Passerculus 
