464 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
structure of protoplasm ; Miss Gould was able to confirm the exist- 
ence of the very fine vacuolization which he describes in P. jpalustris. 
The peripheral radiate alveolar border of Biitschli, said to be character- 
istic of froths, was clearly distinguishable in some sections. 
In a consecutive series of sections of one individual, a central, more 
deeply staining, irregularly oval ring of apparently denser protoplasm 
was traceable through many sections ; this appeared to be a more or 
less oval or spherical mass, which called to mind somewhat a central 
capsule. 
The refringent bodies were very numerous, but w T ere only to be 
seen when certain stains were used, such as fuchsin, eosin, dahlia, and 
others ; with all stains except picric acid in turpentine, they appeared 
perfectly homogeneous, but with it they showed plainly a fine granula- 
tion, and sometimes contained a small, bright, crescentic area which 
might represent a space or cavity in the interior. Miss Gould concludes 
that they are almost certainly either solid structures, or are filled with 
a coagulable fluid. 
The rod-like bodies which Greef took for crystals, are almost cer- 
tainly Bacteria ; in a Pelomyxa killed with osmic acid, stained in bulk 
with eosin-alum, and teased up in glycerin, it was found that the rods 
were not constricted, but very distinctly jointed ; the rods were always 
straight, and had tw T o to nine joints ; their refractive index seemed to 
be nearly the same as that of Canada balsam. Mr. M. D. Hill has 
attempted, but without success, to get a pure cultivation of these 
bodies. 
Nuclear Division in Noctiluca.* — Dr. C. Ishikawa describes the 
peculiar phenomena of nuclear division in the budding of Noctiluca 
miliaris. As all previous observers have described, the living nucleus 
appears clear and homogeneous ; but reagents display numerous granules 
in about ten straight or curved strands, which look like, and probably 
are chromosomes. In the budding there is a centrosoma which divides 
and is associated with archoplasm. Longitudinal cleavage of the chromo- 
somes was clearly seen. There was no evidence of the nuclear origin of 
the archoplasm, indeed the nuclear membrane remained very distinct. 
The connecting threads between the separating nuclear segments appear 
to arise from the linin-threads of the nucleus, and have nothing to do 
with the cytoplasm. 
Enclosure of Globigerina by Orbulina.f — Dr. L. Rhumbler dis- 
cusses this strange occurrence about winch much has been said. An 
original Globigerina shell, grown to a certain size, becomes surrounded 
by an Orbulina shell, and seems thus to be protected against the violence 
of the waves. The thick-walled stronger forms are not enclosed. The 
author shows that the Globigerina cannot have had its origin within the 
Orbulina , and dismisses some other interpretations. He has convinced 
himself that the thin-walled specimens of Globigerina bulloides d’Orbigny 
are the young stages of Orbulina universa , and believes that Orbulina 
universa makes in its youth 12-14 chambers of the Globigerina type 
* Ber. Nat. Ges. Freiburg, viii. (1894) pp. 54-69 (1 pi.). 
t Zool. Anzeig., xvii. (1894) pp. 196-202. 
