344 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
B. pulcherrima, and B. instabilis — are new. Tliey agree with B. pthila- 
delphica (Leidy) and differ from the European species in having two 
pairs of vasa deferentia. It should be pointed out that the author is by 
no means certain that they should be placed in the genus to which he 
assigns them. 
Notes on Hirudinea.* — Dr. E. Blanchard points out that Nephelis 
sexoculata Schneider is really N. octoculata ; he has shown that in 
Neplielids the eye may present various anomalies, among which the 
atrophy of the antero-lateral eyes is not rare. These anomalies are 
more common in certain localities, and it looks as if segregation had 
given rise to a special race. 
The species described by Schneider as N. scripturata is to be referred 
to N. atomaria of Carena ; it must not be forgotten that Leeches vary 
greatly in their coloration. N. crassipundata Schneider is likewise 
N. atomaria. 
ft. Nemathelmintlies. 
Notes on Gordii.f — Prof. L. Camerano describes Gordius Baphaelis 
sp. n. from the Orthopterous genus Phyllodromia taken in the French 
Congo. He expresses the belief that a revision should be made of the 
American species referred to G. verrucosus Baird by Baird and by Orley ; 
he has found the species in a Mantis from the French Congo. G. varius 
Leidy is probably not a distinct species, but a series of specimens are 
necessary to settle the question. 
7. Platyhelmintlaes. 
Developmental History of Nemertines.J — Dr. 0. Burger, in face 
of the very contradictory results of Hubrecht and Salensky, has made a 
revision of this subject. It is of importance to note that the Pilidium 
is made up of ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm. The germinal plate 
of the germinal discs consists, in its earliest stage, of two cell-layers — 
a high external cylinder epithelium, and an inner flattened epithelium ; 
the former arises from the ectoderm of the larva, and the inner from 
the mesoderm or cells of the gelatinous substance of the Pilidium. 
Dr. Burger confirms Hubrecht’s statement that the proboscis is derived 
from a special invagination of the larval skin, and not from the head- 
discs. 
The nephridia arise from hollow evaginations of the wall of the 
oesophagus which are laid down at the point where the wall of 
the pharynx passes into the subumbrellar surface of the Pilidium. The 
sacs which are pushed into the gelatinous mass fuse with the hinder 
germinal discs, and are completely cut off from the oesophagus. They 
become shut off from the outer world. A canal-system is developed 
from the saccular rudiments. The efferent duct of the nephridia does 
not correspond to their primitive orifice, but is a secondary invagination 
of the epithelium of the young Nemertine. 
The blood-vessels are derived from a space (archiheemal cavity) which 
appears in the jelly (mesoderm) of the Pilidium after the concrescence of 
the anterior pair of discs, and, later on, it is further developed posteriorly. 
* Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xviii. (1893) pp. 194-8 (1 fig.). 
f Tom. cit., pp. 213-6 (1 fig.). 
t Ber. Naturf. Gesell. Freiburg i/B, viii. (1894) pp. 101-41 (1 pi.). 
