ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
285 
for the accommodation of a larger uterus. Whether this interpretation 
is or is not correct an investigation of the development must determine. 
Notes on Parasites.* — Dr. Bruno Galli- Valerio has a brief note on 
Distoma cylindraceum Zeder, a common parasite in the lungs and other 
orgaus of the body in the frog. The parasite produces a tubercular 
appearance in the affected organ, and sections through such organs with- 
out previous examination are apt to have a very deceptive appearance. 
Dr. Galli- Valerio believes that the parasite described by M. Gebhardt f 
as Coccidium pylori , and found in tumours in the stomach of the frog, 
was nothing but the eggs of this Distoma. The paper includes also a 
note on Uncinaria duodenalis , the parasite which produced the dangerous 
anaemia which attacked the workers in the St. Gothard tunnel. There 
is much reason to believe that the symptoms are produced not wholly 
by any direct injury to the mucous membrane, but by toxic substances 
secreted by the parasite, which find their way into the blood and destroy 
the red corpuscles. The author thinks this suggestion is confirmed hy 
an observation he made upon a cat infested by another species of Unci- 
naria. The animal showed the usual symptoms of anaemia accompanied 
by epileptic fits, and succumbed rapidly ; yet neither at the autopsy 
nor during the previous observations were a large number of parasites 
observed. This seems to be opposed to the theory that the injury is 
mainly direct. The paper includes a historical account of the distribu- 
tion of the parasite, of the observations made upon it, and of the prophy- 
lactic measures suggested at various times. There seems reason to 
believe that infection can take place through the skin as well as by the 
mouth. 
Structure of Geoplana.t — Dr. K. Krsmanovie gives a detailed ac- 
count of the structure of a land Planarian from Celebes, for which he 
suggests the name Geoplana steenstrupi sp. n., and a position beside 
G. sieboldi v. Graff. It differs from the latter in the differentiation of 
the dorsoventral muscles, the glands and the subcutaneous nerve-plexus, 
in the size of the eyes, and especially in the structure of the copu- 
latory organs. 
Incertee Sedis. 
Larva of Discinisca.§ — Prof. F. Blochmann has been able to amplify 
Fritz Muller’s description of a Brachiopod larva. In the main Muller 
described the larva accurately, but he failed to see the hind-gut, mistook 
the nephridia for otocysts, and did not adequately analyse the muscu- 
lature. Blochmann has been led to the conclusion that the larva is not 
that of Crania , as Balfour supposed, but of Discinisca , and probably of 
D. atlantica. A full description is given, as far as the state of preserva- 
tion would admit. 
Echinoderma. 
Reproductive Organs of Holothurians.|| — Dr. L. Bordas has studied 
those of Rolothuria tubulosa , R. poli , R. impatiens, and Stichopus regalis. 
He points out the absence of copulatory organs and of dimorphism in 
* Bull. Soc. Vaud., xxxiv. (1898) pp. 371-9. f Virchow’s Arcliiv, cxlvii. (1897). 
t Zeitschr. wiss. Zool . lxv. (1898) pp. 179-210 (2 pis.). 
§ Zool. Jahrb., xi (189s) pp. 417-26 (1 pi.). 
|| Ann. Faculte des Sci. Marseille, ix. (1899) pp. 187-204 (1 pi.). 
