42 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Insects only a few Ortlioptera have as yet been studied, and specially 
successful observations were made with Gryllus domesticus ; the spleen 
appears to be composed of four plates arranged cross-wise on either side 
of the heart, and it is quite clear that here the organ is perfectly definite 
and circumscribed ; the plates are true diverticula of the heart, but the 
walls have no muscular fibres, while their cavities are often found to be 
filled with a compact mass of cells. Further details, with illustrations, 
are promised. 
Cryptozoic Fauna of Hew Zealand.* * * § — Prof. Dendy explains that by 
this term he means the curious assemblage of animals found beneath logs 
and stones, and in similar situations. He gives a list of 16 Land 
Planarians, of which 13 are due to Prof. Dendy and his friends ; the 
ubiquitous Bipalium Kewense is one of them, but it has almost certainly 
been introduced. Most of the species of Land Planarians seem to be 
very closely related to Australian forms, as they present only slight 
differences in colour or pattern. The most interesting addition is a 
Land-Nemertine, the sixth now known, and distinguished as Geonemertes 
novse-zealandise. A variety of the usual 15-legged Peripatus of New 
Zealand is described as having 16 pairs of legs. 
Fauna of Lakes of the Jura.f — M. F. Zschokke has an interesting 
article on the animal life of these lakes ; there appears to be a consider- 
able amount of variety in different lakes, and the amount of plankton 
present seems to depend on the strength of streams running through the 
lakes. 
North American Mesozoic Invertebrata.f — Mr. C. B. Breckinridge 
has published a catalogue and bibliography of these forms which appears 
to be very well arranged. Works of this kind are of the greatest 
assistance to students. 
Microscopic Contents of Bargate Beds.§ — Mr. F. Chapman de- 
scribes the Ostracoda and Foraminifera found in this lower Greensand 
deposit in Surrey ; as the beds are intermediate between the Folkestone 
and Hythe series, the memoir should attract those who have been in- 
terested by Mr. Chapman’s papers in our own ‘ Transactions ’ during the 
last few years. 
Tunicata. 
Evolution of Sexual Elements in Compound Ascidians.|| — M. A. 
Pizon finds in the Didemnidae and Diplosomidas the same continuity 
between the sexual cord of the parent and that of the bud as has been 
observed in other Ascidians. The genital organs of the young are not 
absolutely new and independent formations. The fact may be general- 
ized for all compound Tunicates, and throws an unexpected light on the 
evolution of these remarkable organisms. 
Cleavage of Ascidian 0va.1T — Dr. P. Samassa has shown by an 
investigation of Ciona intestinalis and Clavellina lepadiformis that the 
* Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., xiv. (1894) pp. 393-401. 
f Rev. Suisse Zool., ii. (1894) pp. 349-76 (1 pi.). 
X Bull. U.S. Geol. Survey, No. 102 (1893) [received Nov. 1894] 315 pp. 
§ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1. (1894) pp. 677-729 (2 pis.). 
j| Comptes Rendus, cxix. (1894) pp. 569-72. 
*|j Arch. f. Mikr. Anat., xliv. (1894) pp. 1-15 (2 pis.). 
