196 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
in some birds. In examining birds for embryonic Filar ise, it is best to 
cut out the heart and press it gently against a slide so as to leave 
thereon a little blood, for the blood in the heart often contains worms 
when they are not to be found elsewhere in the body. The blood should 
be examined immediately after death ; if a period of thirty hours has 
passed it is impossible to find them. 
Atlantonema rigidum.* — M. E. Moniez has some observations on 
this Nematode, which is parasitic in various coprophagous Coleoptera. 
The worm loses most of its organs, and particularly its digestive tube, so 
that it has merely the character of a long sac filled with embryos of all 
degrees of development. These break through the wall of the maternal 
body and spread in large numbers among the viscera of their host. A 
certain degree of development is possible within the body ; regarding the 
further stages of their history, the author can only as yet surmise as to 
their relation to the Ehabditis-like forms which are found on the backs of 
these Beetles. 
Development of Gordius.! — Dr. L. Camerano finds that the principal 
phenomena of maturation and fertilization in the ova of Gordius tolosanus, 
G. villoti , &e., are like those of Ascaris megalocephala. The segmenta- 
tion is total but irregular, and results in a two-layered “ sterroblastula,” 
which is transformed into a “ coelogastrula.” He maintains that the 
resemblance between the development of Gordius and that of other 
Nematodes justifies the retention of the Gordiidee as a distinct order 
within the class. 
Histology of Echinorhynchus.i — Herr J/Kaiser begins an account of 
the Acanthocephala, which, so far as yet published, deals mainly with 
their histology. Of the nine species which served as material for his 
researches, two are new, E. uncinatus and E. spinosus, both from Florida. 
The cuticle, the felt-like subcuticula, the radial fibrils of the hypo- 
dermis, the lemnisci are described at great length, and a summary is given 
of what is known in regard to the absorption of food. So far, almost all 
the results reached corroborate those of previous investigators. 
y. Platyhelminthes. 
Rhabdocoele Turbellaria.§— Dr. L. Bohmig, in his second memoir, 
deals in a very detailed manner with the Plagiostomina and Cylindro- 
stomina of Graffs. We have only space to notice a few of the many 
points discussed by the author. The reactions of the rhabdites and 
pseudorhabdites to colouring matters are so very various that we may 
conclude that their chemical composition varies considerably, and that, 
perhaps, their function does so also. The parenchyme of the Turbel- 
laria primitively consists of individualized cells, and the manner in 
which they fuse varies considerably. In the Alloioccela and in some of 
the Bhabdoccela there is in each cell a differentiation into supporting and 
sap-plasma, and the cell-walls of the cells fuse with «one another. In the 
two divisions of the Dendroccela and perhaps in some Khabdoccels fusion 
* Comptes Eendus. cxii. (1891) pp. 60-2. 
f Mem. R. Accad. Sci. Torino, xl. (1890) pp. 1-18 (2 pis.), 
j Bibliotheca Zoologica, Heft 7 (1891) pp. 1-40 (6 pis.). 
§ Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool., xli. (1890) pp. 167-479 (11 pis., 21 figs). 
