72 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
quently exhibit a quite unusual expan: ion, and the configuration of the 
ambulacral system in the large larvae is also unique. 
In the origin of the calcareous plates, cells of the gelatinous matrix 
first produce a homogeneous cap-like secretion-hall, which is sharply 
defined by a membrane. By a complicated folding of this membrane 
the form of the subsequent calcareous plate is mapped out, and in this 
organic model — as within a matrix — the hard material takes form. This 
is “ bio-crystallisation,” and still beyond mechanical analysis. Chun 
pours contempt on the attempts to explain the origin of skeletal parts 
mechanically, according to laws of vesicular tension, &c. Dreyer said 
that the bubbles in a beer-jug suggested the explanation of the tetra- 
radiate type ; Chun offers the neo-Darwinists a bottle of champagne “ zur 
Vertiefung in Hire Ideen ! ” 
Echinoderms of the Bay of Amboyna.* — Prof. R. Koehler gives an 
account of the Holothurians and Crinoids collected by MM. Bedot and 
Pictet in the Bay of Amboyna. A new species of Phyllophorus , called 
P. Bedoti , is remarkable for the size of the calcareous pharyngeal ring, 
but we note that no reference is made to the paper of the late 
Prof. Moseley on the existence of large pharyngeal rings in Holothurians. 
The species collected are very much what one would have expected, and 
the author has gone carefully into the question of synonymy. 
ComatulidaB of the ‘ Albatross.’ f — Dr. C. R. Hartlaub gives an 
account of the few species of Comatulids collected during the expedition 
of the ‘ Albatross.’ They all belong to the genus Antedon, and there 
are but seven species. These were dredged at ten stations only. In 
some cases the number of specimens collected was numerous. It is 
certainly striking to compare the poverty of the Pacific side of Central 
America with the comparative wealth of the Atlantic side. Especial 
attention is directed to the fact that a group of species (the Eschrichti 
group), which was hitherto supposed to be confined to the Arctic and 
Antarctic regions, is found also in the tropics. The new species de- 
scribed are called A. agassizii. A. tanneri , A. parvula , and A. bigra- 
data. Two species are not definitely named. The author takes the 
opportunity of describing a new species from Gaspard Strait, which he 
calls A. subiilis ; it belongs to the Palmata group of P. H. Carpenter, 
and is closely allied to the author’s species, A. Klanzingeri, from the 
Red 'Sea. 
Notes on Synapte.lj; — Mr. IT. C. Chadwick has notes on some speci- 
mens of Synapta inhserens from Port Erin. Although referring the 
specimens to this species, he notes that the number of digitate processes 
on the sides of the tentacles never exceeds four, and is very commonly 
three. He thinks that S. busld , as described by various authors, is pro- 
bably synonymous with S. inhserens. 
Ccelentera. 
New Hexactinian.§ — Dr. A. Appellof describes Ptyrhodactis patula 
g. et sp. n. from Drontheimsfjord. There are five rows of peripheral 
* Bev. Suls. Zool., iii. (1 895) pp. 277-93. 
t Bull. Mils. Comp. Zool., xxvii (1895) pp. 129-52 (4 pis.). 
% Proc. and Trans. Liverpool Biol. Soc., pp. 235-42 (2 pis.). 
r § Bergens Museums Aarbog, 1893 published 1894, received 1895, pp. 1-22 
(3 pis.). 
