394 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
in four species of Kossellidae, viz. Acantliasciis cactus F. E. S., Rhabdo- 
calyptus mollis F. E. S., Bh. Roeperi F. E. S., and Bh. Dowlingi L. M. 
Lambe. To this list Prof. Ijima adds two new species of the last- 
named genus, viz. Bh. capillatus sp. n., Bh. victor sp. n., and three 
others belonging to a new genus Staurocalyptus . In this he includes 
Schulze’s Bh. Roeperi , Lambe’s Bh. Dowlingi , and his own new forms 
which he names St. heteractinus , St. glaber , and St. pleorhaphides. The 
diagnosis of the new genus reads — “ Discoctasterophorous Rossellids 
with pentactin hypodermalia, the para tangential rays of which never 
possess hook-like prongs, but are either smooth or minutely and uni- 
formly rough.” 
Protozoa. 
Influence of Various Solutions upon Infusoria.* — Mr. A. Yasuda 
has experimented as to the effects of placiDg Infusorians ( Colpidium , 
Chilomonas 3 Euglena , Paramoecium, &c.) in solutions of milk-sugar, cane- 
sugar, grape-sugar, glycerin, and common salt. The action depends 
more upon the chemical nature of the substance than upon its concentra- 
tion ; for isotonic solutions of the five substances mentioned above do 
not produce corresponding effects. In solutions of higher concentra- 
tion a contraction of the Infusorians takes place, which disappears after 
some hours, when tbe organisms begin to accommodate themselves to 
the new media. Higher concentration of the medium retards first the 
multiplication, and then the movement of the organisms. In sugar- 
solutions of higher concentration, some Infusoria seem to increase in 
size only till a certain limit is reached. The vacuoles or the corpuscles 
in the cells increase in diameter as the concentration of the medium 
becomes stronger. The more the concentration of the medium increases, 
the more rounded become the organisms. 
Biflagellata.f — Dr. W. H. Dallinger replies indirectly to B. France’s 
criticism of the well-known studies which he and the late Dr. Drysdale 
made on biflagellate organisms. The point seems clear that the investi- 
gators refrained from nomenclature or classification, but observed (first 
independently and then jointly) seven definite living micro-organisms 
passing through a continuous series of cyclic changes. Whether the 
“ biflagellate ” of Dallinger and Drysdale is identical with the Polytoma 
of France’s paper remains uncertain, and therefore cannot form a basis 
of criticism. Dr. Dallinger adheres to the conclusions reached with 
great care and patience many years ago, and questions the competence 
and suitability of France’s methods as modes of criticism of the joint 
work of Dr. Drysdale and himself. 
Parasitic Flagellata of Termites.^ — Prof. B. Grassi and Dr. A. 
Sandias described in 1890 the parasitic Protozoa in Termites. An 
edited translation is now available. Of Lophomonadidse, there are three 
— Joenia annectens g. et sp. Grassi (in Calotermes lucifugus), Tricho- 
nympha agilis Leidy (in Termes lucifugus), and Microjoenia hexamitoides 
g. et sp. Grassi = Leidy’s immature Trichonympha (in T. lucifugus) ; of 
Cercomonadidae, there are two — Monocercomonas termitis Grassi (in 
* Annot. Zool. Japon., i. (1897) pp. 23-9. See Bot. Mag. Tokyo, xi. (1897). 
t Biol. Centralbl., xvii. (1897) pp. 305-11 (4 figs.). 
j Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., xl. (1897) pp. 43-54 (1 pi. in vol. xxxix.). 
