The Americmi Naturalist. 
ZOOLOGY. 
Animal Coloring Matter. — C. A. McMunn {Jour. Marine Biol. 
Assn. United Kingdom, ^o. i,) discusses briefly the coloring matters 
of several invertebrates. Among the interesting facts are these 
Spectroscopic examination fails to show the presence of symbiotic algae 
in Antcdon, it being found that contrary results were due to the pres- 
ence of plants in the food, and that when the stomach was removed 
neither chlorophyll nor chlorofucin occurred in the extract. The diges- 
tive glands of echinoderms and Crustacea not only form digestive fer- 
ments but exercise a chromatogenic function. Chlorophyll was found 
in several annelids, while other green worms possessed no chlorophyll. 
The lipochromes in some cases may act as an absorber of light rays, but 
its other function is very uncertain. The author shows that a know- 
ledge of invertebrate coloring, matter is absolutely essential to a clear 
understanding of the physiological action of the pigments of the Ver- 
tebrata. 
The Polynoina.— H. Trautzsch discusses (/^;w. Zeitsch., XXIV., 
p. 6i) the Polynoid worms of Spitzbergen. I'^leven species are enu- 
merated, of which one {Harmothae vittatd) is new. The generic limits 
are discussed, the genera of Malmgren, Levinsen, Kallenbach being 
considered. In the second part of the paper the morphology and 
physiology of the Nephridia are reviewed. The conclusions are as 
follows : In their simplest form the Nephridia are open saccular organs 
of the usual polycheete type, perforating the dissepiment, and opening 
exteriorly at the apex of a murally placed papilla on the hinder mar- 
gin of the segment. Each nephridium is composed of funnel, inner 
loop. ne[)hri(lial sac, outer loop and papilla; there being but a pair ot 
ii-l.hri(lia in a segment, and each having but a single external opening. 
Nephridia are present in all segments, showing differences in each, and 
also between right and left. In the young animal all the Nephridia 
are essentially the same, but before and during the sexual maturity all 
except the first four pairs become more complex. All of the Nephridia 
are excretory organs, and the first four have no other function, and 
become genital ducts at. the time of sexual maturity, the sexual pro- 
ducts being forced to the exterior through the contractions of the sur- 
rounding muscles. 
