ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
635 
Coelenterate nervous system which may now he established are these : — 
A plexus of fibres and cells occurs in both ectoderm and endoderm, 
similar in structure, and probably similar in function. In some, such as 
the Scyphozoa, the Ctenophora, many Hydroids, and the Sea-Anemones, 
the ectodermic nervous system is the predominating one, as it is in the 
higher animals, but in some of the colonial Anthozoa, such as Alcyonium , 
it is the endodermic nervous system which predominates. In the 
Anthozoa there is a communication between the two nervous systems 
by means of a loose plexus of cells and fibres, but to what extent this 
occurs in other Coelenterates we hardly know at present. 
Actiniaria of Ternate.* — Mr. C. R. Kwietniewski has worked out 
the Actiniaria collected by Prof. Kiikenthal. The number of species 
found was very small, but the four forms that were found belong to 
very different groups. The collector reports that the littoral fauna of 
Ternate was extremely poor, both in species and individuals of Acti- 
niaria. Of Phellia a new species was found which is called P/j. 
ternatana. Of the Discosomidee a new genus was found, which is 
called BadiantJms, while the specific name is taken from the name 
of the collector. The author suggests an alteration in the systematic 
position of the Thalassianthidse, for he makes of this a tribe — the 
Thalassianthse — with the characters of the family. 
British Hydroids and Medusae.! — Mr. E. T. Browne has lately 
devoted himself to a study of British Medusae. He very rightly declares 
his intention of no longer using the double system of classification with 
one name for the hydroid and another for the medusae. In cases where 
the hydroid form and medusa are known, he has used both the generic 
and specific names of the hydroids without any alteration, but in cases 
where the medusa only is known, he has given the generic names as used 
by Haeckel in his monograph, but not always his specific name. The 
memoir, of course, consists largely of details into which it is impossible 
for us to enter, but we should like to call attention to the case of Lar 
sabellarum, the medusa of which is as interesting as the hydroid is 
remarkable. It appears to be a transitional stage between the Antho- 
medusse and Leptomedusse. As Mr. Browne rightly remarks, the natu- 
ralists who studied marine life at the end of the last and the beginning 
of the present century, worked under many difficulties which have now 
passed away. In consequence of this, the descriptions and figures of 
the jelly-fishes given by the pioneers of marine zoology usually lack 
the details necessary at the present day for the identification of the 
species. 
The early workers on medusae do not appear to have recognised the 
fact that medusae, like many other animals, pass through various stages 
of growth, and that the early stages are often unlike the adult forms. 
The early stages were consequently described as distinct species, and 
this, added to vague descriptions and inaccurate drawings, has led to 
much confusion. 
Mr. Browne’s work ought to do' a good deal to remedy these dis- 
advantages to the study of a very interesting group. 
* Zool. Anzeig., xix. (1896) pp. 388-91. 
t Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1896, pp. 459-500 (2 pis.). 
