212 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Besides the foregoing, still larger individuals of a brownish -green 
hue were observed. These were closely beset with tubercles, on which 
were cilia, and at one extremity was a triangular oral aperture. Whether 
these forms are to be classed with B. viride is left undecided. 
Myxotheca arenilega.* — Under this name Herr F. Schaudinn 
describes a new marine Rhizopod : it was discovered by the naked eye, 
owing to its pseudopodial tufts being several centimetres long. It is 
amoeboid in form and surrounded by a gelatinous investment which may 
be naked or have sand-grains and other foreign bodies attached to its 
outer surface ; moreover, it has reticular pseudopodia and a nucleus 
which may be from 39-75 p long. The species have been obtained from 
Rovigno and from Naples. 
With regard to its systematic position the author reminds us that 
Neumayr, who was the first to try to fix the natural affinities of the Fora- 
minifera, showed how probable it was that those with calcareous tests were 
derived from agglutinating forms. Of these latter the most primitive 
appear to be Astrorhizidse, of which the simplest are Psammosphsera and 
Sorosphsera. Herr Schaudinn thinks that he has sufficient proof that 
Myxotheca is lower than either of these, and he concludes, therefore, that 
it is the most primitive of extant Foraminifera, and that it is possible 
that it or some allied form served as the starting point for the whole 
group of Astrorhizidae. 
In a postscript the author adds that the study of a low Foraminifer 
has revealed to him developmental stages which have a certain re- 
semblance to Myxotheca. The [possibility, therefore, that the new form 
is an incompletely developed arenaceous Foraminifer must not be lost 
sight of. 
New Gregarine in Algerian Acrididae.j — M. L. Leger describes, 
under the name of Glepsidrina acridiorum , a new Gregarine which differs 
in important characters from C. Munieri which infests Timarcha , and 
C. macrocephala which is found in Gryllus sylvestris. It was found in 
abundance in the intestinal tract of species of Pamphagus and Truxalis 
which live in Algeria. 
Polysporella.l — Dr. P. A. Dangeard discusses the nature of Poly - 
sporella Kiitzingii , which Zopf ranked among the Monadinese, beside 
Colpodella , Pseudospora , Protomonas , and Diplophysalis , distinguishing it 
by the occurrence of several spores in the sporocysts. But Dangeard 
finds that this alleged form consists (a) of the normal sporangial state 
of Pseudospora Nitellarum , and ( h ) of modifications due to the presence 
of Nuclearia simplex as the parasite inside the sporangia. There is, in 
short, no such genus as Polysporella. 
Monocercomonas Hominis and Amoeba coli. § — Dr. A. Epstein 
examined the contents of the alimentary canal of a number of children 
suffering from diarrhoea, and in twenty-six cases found Protozoa. The 
contents were obtained by means of a hollow sound which was passed 
* Zeitschr. f. wiss. Zool., lvii. (1893) pp. 18-31 (1 pi.). 
f Comptes Rendus, cxvii. (1893) pp. 811-3. 
% Botaniste, 3 serie, fasc. 5 (1893) pp. 205-14 (1 pi.). 
$ Prag. Med. Wochenschr., xviii. (1893) pp. 463, 475, 486 (2 figs.). See Cen- 
tralbl. f. Bakteriol. n. Tarasitenk., xiv. (1893) pp. 784-5. 
