Miscellaneous Notes. 



The Occurrence of Sphserothuria bitentaculata, Ludwig in the 

 Sagami Seas. — This curious and interesting holothurian, looking 

 externally like some 1 simple Ascidian was obtained in the seas near the 

 Galapagos Islands by Prof. Alexander Agasstz, while on the exploring 

 expedition to those parts on the U. S. Fish Commission steamer " Alba- 

 tross," and was described by Ludwig in' his report on the Holothtirioidea 

 of the Expedition (Mem. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., vol. XVII, no. 3) under 

 the name given above! ' During the summer just past, I have been 

 fortunate enough to obtain two specimens of this species in the seas near 

 the Misaki Marine Station: One specimen was obtained about seven 

 miles south of Misaki in what is known as the Uraga Channel at the 

 depth of about 350 fathoms. The other was fished up about five miles 

 west of Misaki in the Sagatni Bay at about the same'depth. Both were 

 c'aüght by a fishing long line and found attached to the jelly-mass 

 which Bdellostoma secretes and hides itself in. The specimens on the 

 whole tally well with the' descriptions of Ludwig. The occurrence of 

 this rare species at' two places separated from each other by the entire 

 width of the Pacific is, to say the least, very interesting and goes once 

 more to establish the' comparative uniformity of the deep-sea fauna. The 

 discovery of the animal at intermediate stations would not now be 

 surprising at all. K. Mitsukuri. 



Contributions to the Morphology of Cyclostomata. I. On the 

 Formation of the Heart in Petromyzon, by S. Hatta. Jour. Sci. Coll., 

 Imp. Univ., Tokio, Vol. X, Pt, II, p. 225-237. Pl. XVIII.— Die erste 

 Andeutung des Herzens findet man schon an sehr jungen Embryonen 

 Welche noch eine- wenige Zahl der Mesoderrnsegmente und nur- zwei 

 Paar Kiemeneinbuchtungen besitzen. In diesem Stadium beobachten 

 wir immer, zwischen den. zwei primären Keimschichten zerstreut, eine 

 Anzahl Zellen, die den Mesodermzellen ganz ähnlich aussehen. Dieselbe 

 gruppiren sich besonders auf der Medianlinie des Bodens, vor jener Stelle, 

 wo der weit ausgedehnte Mitteldarm sich mit dem schlanken Vorderdarm 

 verbindet. Diese mesenchymatischen Zellen weichen nach einiger Zeit 

 aus einander und bilden 1 ein Rohr, indem sie sich epithelial anordnen. 

 Dieses Gebilde welches unterdessen rechts und links von den beiden 



