200 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Echinoderma. 
Function of Pyloric Caeca in Starfish.* — Ellen A. Stone finds that 
the pyloric caeca of Asterias vulgaris have a definite pancreatic function. 
Their abundant secretion contains three ferments : — 
(1) A proteolytic ferment, comparable to trypsin, which acts best 
in a slightly alkaline medium, to good advantage in a neutral solution, 
but scarcely at all in an acid medium ; converting proteids into diffusible 
peptones, and breaking down some of these even further into amido- 
acids, such as leucin and tyi’osin. 
(2) A diastatic ferment, acting rapidly upon starch, converting it 
through the dextrins into maltose. 
(3) A fat-splitting ferment, comparable to that of the pancreas, which 
breaks fats into their fatty acids and glycerin. But this is surely not 
quite so new as the authoress indicates (p. 1040) ; since even in such an 
elementary text-book as Thomson’s £ Outlines of Zoology,’ 2nd edition 
(p. 232), we read “these glands secrete tryptic, peptic, and diastatic 
ferments.” 
Development of Phyllophorus urna.f — Prof. H. Ludwig makes a 
preliminary communication in regard to the development of this Medi- 
terranean Holothuroid. He confirms Kowalevsky’s observation that the 
young are found within the body-cavity of the mother, but he has not 
yet succeeded in finding the earliest stages. It is doubtful whether the 
development normally occurs in the body-cavity, or in the ovarian tubes 
which might be readily ruptured. One of the interesting features of the 
young stages is their abundant equipment with calcareous bodies, of 
which there is hardly a trace in the adults. 
Notes on Dendrochirota.J — Hjalmar Ostergren describes some of 
the differences among Dendrochirota ; — (a) as regards the disposition of 
the coils of the gut and the associated mesentery, ( b ) as regards the 
respiratory trees. He also describes some new species, — Cucumaria i 
longicauda , Thy one anomala , &c. 
Sphaerothuria bitentaculata in Japanese Seas.§ — Prof. E. Mitsukuri 
found this interesting Holothurian, looking externally like some simple 
Ascidian, at about 350 fathoms in the Sagami seas. Both specimens 
were caught by a long fishing line, and found attached to the jelly-mass 
which Bdellostoma secretes. Agassiz described its occurrence near the 
Galapagos Islands, and the discovery of this rare species at two places 
separated 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 animals at intermediate 
localities would not now be surprising. 
Protein Crystalloids in Nuclei of Amoebocytes.|]— Dr. Th. List 
describes the occurrence of crystalloid aggregates of a proteid nature 
within the nuclei of the wandering amoeboid cells of Sphser echinus 
* Amer. Naturalist, xxxi. (1897) pp. 1035-41. 
t Zool. Anzeig., xxi. (1898) pp. 95-9. % Tom. cit., pp. 102-10 (3 figs.). 
§ Annot. Zool. Japon., i. (1897) p. 149. 
|| Anat. Anzeig , xiv. (1897) pp. 185-91 (4 figs.). 
