1886. ] Zoblogy. 1063 
toria, Australia. 
Sponges.—Dr. R. von Lendenfeld described the nervous Sys- 
tem of several sponges at the recent meeting of the British As- 
sociation for the advancement of Science. He called attention to , 
the fact that in the sponges the most important organs are meso- 
dermal (this is the case with the nerve cells) while in the Ccelen- 
terates proper they are ecto- or ento-dermal. On the basis of 
this he proposes to divide the ccelenterates of Claus into Ccelen- 
terata-Mesodermalia or sponges and Ccelenterata-Epithelaria or 
ccelenterates proper. It would seem as if these facts were an 
argument in favor of the view that the ccelenterates of Claus was 
not a natural. group, a view for which there are many other 
reasons for adopting. 
alenterates——Haddon states that his species Halcampa an- 
dresi is not valid but must stand as a synonym of H. chrysan- 
thellum (Peach) Dana. G. Y. Dixon gives some notes on 
wardsia limida with a colored plate showing the entire 
animal and some of the details. He regards Æ. harasti and E 
timida as synonymous. His paper and that of. Haddon are 
in Vol, v. of the Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, 
At the meeting of the British Association, Dr. von Lenden- 
feld described the development of Phyllorhiza punctata of Aus- 
tralia, The ephyra has eight marginal sense bodies; at the next 
stage it has twenty-four, then sixteen, while the adult has only 
eight. The same author further stated that Cramébessa masaica 
goes up the Australian rivers at the breeding season to deposit 
its young, just as does the salmon. This species has remarkably 
t 
means of the micro-spectroscope and show the existence of 2 
respiratory coloring matter allied to hæmogolbin and of a bili- 
verdin which is probably concerned in excretion. Concerning 
the “yellow cells” the author states that the fact that they appear 
to cause a suppression of those pigments which in other Actineæ 
appear to discharge a respiratory function is an argument in 
favor of their being regarded as symbiotic alge. Moseley’s 
