438 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
(1) They should be founded on and approximate to the great primary 
geographical divisions of the earth, as these seem to have been permanent 
during considerable geological periods. 
(2) They should be rich and varied in all the main types of animal 
life. 
(3) They should possess great individuality, either by the possession 
of numerous peculiar forms, or the entire absence of forms which are 
abundant and widespread in adjacent regions. 
Mr. Wallace thinks that the Sclaterian regions seem all that can be 
desired. As there is such difference of opinion as to the subdivisions of 
the primary regions he suggests that, for the present, no attempt should 
be made to name definite subdivisions. All proposed regions are, from 
some points of view, natural, but the whole question of their grouping 
and nomenclature is one of convenience and of utility in relation to the 
object aimed at. 
Autotomy in the Animal Kingdom.* * * § — M. L. Fredericq, who has 
devoted much attention to this subject, has a general essay on it, in 
which there are many interesting observations. He concludes that 
autotomy was at first a voluntary and intentional movement, due to an 
instinct of self-preservation. This movement was gradually perfected 
and adapted more perfectly to the end in view ; simultaneously it lost 
its intentional character and became a purely reflex action. 
Zoology of Irish Sea. j — Prof. Herdman was appointed chairman of 
a Committee of the British Association to report on this subject. It is 
pointed out that the region round the Isle of Man, made classical by 
the investigations of Edward Forbes, is interesting from the considerable 
diversity of shore, of depth, and of bottom, and it possesses an abundant 
fauna, which includes a number of rare and novel forms. The members 
of the committee have collected and identified about 1000 species of 
marine animals, of which 38 are new to the British fauna, 224 to the 
district, and 17 to science. 
Chemistry of Organisms.f — Dr. A. Frebault has gathered together 
a number of more or less well-known facts in regard to the chemical 
composition and changes characteristic of organisms. He shows how 
scientific conceptions have been changed by modern advances in physio- 
logical chemistry, without however himself appreciating some of these. 
He makes a point of illustrating the unity of animal and plant life, 
suggesting that the biologists have not yet assimilated Claude Bernard’s 
lessons. 
Phylogeny of Chordata.§ — Mr. W. Garstang has a preliminary note 
on a new theory of the phylogeny of the Chordata. It postulates a 
common ancestor for the Echinoderma, Enteropneusta and Chordata; 
this was bilaterally symmetrical and had the external appearance of a 
young Auricularia larva ; at the apical pole were a pair of pigmented 
ciliated pits, resembling the eye-spots of Tornaria ; this pelagic ancestor 
had at least two pairs of bilaterally symmetrical enterocoeles, of which 
* Bull. Acad. Roy. Belg., lxiii. (1893) pp. 738-72. 
f Rep. Brit. Ass., 1893 (1894) pp. 526-36 (1 map). 
- i Mem. Acad. Sci. Toulouse, v. (1893) pp. 277-322. 
§ Zool. Anzeig., xvii. (1894) pp. 122-5. 
