PROGRESS OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE. 
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to be at least three parasites, one of which is an Oidium, and the 
other (beside the Fusisporium ?) it is very difficult, as the writer is 
evidently no mycologist, to make out from either the rude figure or 
the vague description. The spores as figured resemble those of 
Urocystis ; but if they are produced on the branches of erect threads, 
then they belong to quite another order, and may be some black 
mould (Dematiei). If so, the Fusisporium (?) or Oidium are much 
more likely to be the cause of the disease. 
The Peripheral Nervous System of Marine Nematoids.— In a paper 
by M. A. Villot, in the ' Comptes Kendus ' (Feb. 8), and which is 
abstracted in the ' Academy ' (March 13), it states that the connection 
of the tactile papillae of these worms, and of their eyes, with a 
nervous system has been hitherto obscure, and M. Villot finds that 
when the worms are rendered transparent by maceration in a mixture 
of acetic acid, alcohol, glycerine, and water, a thin, granular, highly 
refracting layer is seen beneath the cuticle. This was described by 
Dr. Charlton Bastian in 1866, who observed that it contained cellules. 
Each of these cellules sends a delicate thread to a papilla, and 
distributes lateral prolongations to adjacent papillae. " The sub- 
cutaneous layer of these marine Nematoids contains a veritable 
network of ganglionic cells, which supply more filaments to the 
tactile and visual organs, and this peripheral network is related with 
the central nervous system through a plexus which traverses the 
muscular layer, and connects the ventral nerve with the subcutaneous 
layer." M. Yillot alludes to a similar arrangement in sea anemones, 
and to his own discovery of it in Gordius, and he remarks that " this 
disposition of the ganglionic cells in a network (reseau) is certainly 
less rare amongst invertebrates than has been generally supposed, and 
probably represents the whole nervous system of the lower types." 
A Shin Disease caused by Filarice. — Dr. John O'Neill,* Surgeon 
E.N., describes "craw-craw" as a contagious skin disease, endemic 
among the negroes on the west coast of Africa, which in most of its 
symptoms closely resembles scabies. He appears to have demon- 
strated the fact that the irritation is due to the burrowing in the 
true skin of a minute filaria, one-hundredth of an inch in length, of 
which he gives drawings. 
The so-called Fungus-Foot of India. — With reference to this 
subject, we have received a copy of a leading article from the 
* Indian Medical Gazette' (Feb. 1, 1875), in which the writer 
endeavours to disprove Dr. Carter's view that the disease is caused 
by the presence of a minute fungus. The article is much too long 
for insertion, and it seems to lack conciseness. We, without giving 
an opinion as to the accuracy of the view it suggests, give the follow- 
ing quotation from it : " The ' pale ' and the ' black ' varieties of the 
malady are still — and we think rightly so — classed as essentially one 
and the same disease, but the obscurity with reference to the associa- 
tion of mycelial filaments with the latter and not with the former 
variety is as evident as ever. We are not aware that anyone who has 
* ' Lancet,' Feb. 20. 
