ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MIOUOSCOPY, ETO. 
351 
Blood of Invertebrates.* — Dr. A. B. Griffiths gives an account of 
the amount of gas found in the blood of various Arthropods and Mol- 
luscs ; a portion of the oxygen and carbonic anhydride present was 
found to combine chemically with some constituent or constituents of 
the blood. Copper plays in the blood of Invertebrates a similar role to 
iron in the blood of the higher Yertebrata. Although hcemoglobin is 
present in the blood of many Invertebrates, the chief constituent in 
most is hsemocyanin, which contains copper instead of iron. 
Chemical Composition of Haemocyanin.f — Dr. A. B. Griffiths pre- 
cipitated htemocyanin from the blood of Homarus, Cancer, and Sepia by 
sulphate of magnesium ; he finds it has a very uniform composition, 
which may be indicated by the formula C 86 ,H 136 3N 22 3CuS 4 0 258 . 
Mollusca. 
Morphology of Mollusca.}— The only subject dealt with by Herr J. 
Thiele in this communication is the epipodium of the Mollusca ; a 
considerable part of it is devoted to a criticism of the views of Dr. P. 
Pelseneer. He regards the epipodium as representing an organ of the 
lateral line which is homologous with that of the Polychaeta. 
a. Cephalopoda. 
Observations on a Living Argonaut. § — Prof. H. de Lacaze-Duthiers 
gives a very interesting account of some observations made of a living 
Mediterranean Argonaut which was kept in captivity at the “ laboratoire 
Arago ” at Bauyuls. When brought to the laboratory the animal 
dropped its shell, but this was put into the aquarium with it, and the 
Argonaut soon took it again, mounted to the surface of the water, and 
remained there till it died. It was easy to push the creature under the 
water, but as soon as the press.ure was removed it came again to the level, 
just below which it kept its body, inclined a little downwards and for- 
wards. The eye has something feline about it. The changes of colour 
are not nearly so marked as in the Squid and the like. The funnel, 
seen from the side, looks like a muzzle. The author enters into a number 
of details, most of which tend to show that the earlier accounts of the 
Argonaut are of the nature of a fable. 
Muscle-fibres of Cephalopoda.|| — Dr. E. Ballowitz has in this con- 
nection investigated Eledone moschata and Sepiola Bondelelii, using also 
for comparison a number of other Cephalopods. The mantle, the 
pharynx, the arms, and the suckers were especially investigated. 
The fibres are very long and narrow, usually more or less flattened. In 
the middle of each there is usually a large oval nucleus. A completely 
tubular cortical portion of variable thickness is distinguishable from a 
granular axial portion. In the cortex there are continuous spiral lines 
surrounding the medullary substance, and traversing the whole thickness 
of the rind. In contraction the shape and the disposition of the spirals 
* Pi'oc. Roy. Soc. Edinb., xviii. (1892) pp. 288-94 (1 fig.), 
t Comptes Rendus, cxiv. (1892) p. 496. 
X Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool., liii. (1892) pp. 578-90 (1 pi.). 
$ Arch. Zool. Exper. et (leu., x (1892) pp. 37-56 (1 fig.). 
i| Arch. f. 31 ikr- Anat., xxxix. (1892; pp. 291-324 (2 pis.). 
