720 General Notes. [July, 
considering the “sesamoid”’ on the ulnar side, the pisiforme, 7. e., 
the ulnare; but it has not been possible hitherto to homologize 
directly the tarsus of the lacertilians and chelonians with that of 
the mammals, e Theromorpha of Professor Cope give the 
missing link. I believe with Professor Cope that “ the subcylindric 
proximal part of the astragalus” is the intermedium (Professor 
Cope calls it erroneously centrale, but corrects this p. 46). In 
the distal part of the astragalus I see the first, and in the navic- 
ular bone the second central bone of Cryptobranchus, etc. 
My further studies will be devoted to the morphogeny of the 
carpus and tarsus of the Sauropsidæ, and I shall be very much 
obliged to “ee one who may kindly aid me with material for 
examination—Dr. G. Baur, Yale Col. Mus., New Laven, Conn., 
April rath, 1885 
A BLACK-FOOTED FERRET FROM TEXxAs.—I recently received 
.from Mr. G. H. Ragsdale a specimen of the black-footed ferret, 
Putorius nigripes, captured near Gainesville, Cooké county, Texas. 
This is the second specimen of the species from Texas thus far 
recorded. The first was noted by Dr. Coues in this journal, in 
1882 (Vol. xvi. p. 1cog), and came from Abilene, Taylor county, 
near the centre of the State—/. W. True, Curator of Mammals, 
Smith. Institution. 
ZooLocicaAL News.— Vermes — Robert Scharff (Quart. Jour. 
Micros. Soc.) gives the result of his investigations upon the skin 
and nervous system of Priapulus caudatus and Halicryptus spinu- 
losus. The skin consists of a cuticula and hypodermis, with an 
extremely thin layer of connective tissue or cutis. The nervous 
system lies entirely in the ectoderm 
FPolyzoa—S. F. Harmer (Quart. jar Micros. Soc ) contributes 
a paper upon the structure and development of Loxosoma. The 
‘investigations were carried on upon five species found at Naples. 
He concludes that “in order to understand correctly the phylo- 
geny of the Polyzoa we must derive the group from a trochos- 
phere-like organism, and that the Entoprocta have remained 
permanently at a grade hardly higher than that of this hypothet- 
ancestor. xosoma shows itself the most primitive genus 
by the fact that it forms no colonies, by the greater development 
of the brain in the larva, and by the invariable presence of a foot- 
gland i in the buds, if not in the adult.” The similarity between 
Loxosoma and a molluscan larva (Dentalium) is pointed out, and 
the author concludes that “ of all organisms with whose ontogeny 
we are acquainted, the Mollusca come nearest to the Polyzoa,” 
_ and that the Rotifera must be near the ates, Seed in many points; 
= while the Brachiopoda are much less cl 
- Tunicata—M. L. Roule has Seated thik Phallusiadz from 
_ the coasts of Provence in addition to the two recently described 
by him. One of these is intermediate between Molgula and 
