98 
EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PERIODICALS. 
two filaments which proceed from these ganglions reuniting after a short distance, 
whilst they send forth other threads. But the nervous system of these two 
worms has nevertheless this in common, that the situation of the ganglion in 
Pentastoma entirely corresponds with that of Amphistoma^ and that they both 
transmit two filaments extending from each side along the abdominal cavity. 
—From an elaborate paper on P . toenioides^ by Mons. C. E. Miram. 
3. On Antediluvian Blatt^e.—A paper was published in the Annales de la 
Societe Entomologique de France^ for 1836, by Dr. Berendt, on antediluvian 
Blattce^ Orthopterous insects. The author has turned his attention to the species 
of Blatta frequently found in yellow amber with other insects. They are more 
commonly in the larva than in the perfect state. Still their characters are 
sufficiently obvious to determine the species. The author is of opinion, that the 
in sectsfound in yellow amber are not identical with, but only analogous to, the 
living species, and that, in this respect, the general law among geologists applies 
to fossil insects. He has figured seven species of Blatta^ only two of which are 
winged, the others being younger, and some very small. There are doubtless 
more species, but it is difficult to determine whether the differences observed are 
to be accounted specific, or whether they belong to age or sex. 
4. The Leeches and Reptiles of Chili. —It is a remarkable fact that the 
Leeches of Chili are all terrestrial, living in the woods, and never in water. M. 
Gay assures us, that he could not make a botanical excursion without having his 
legs bitten by these blood-suckers. They crawl upon plants, along trunks of 
trees, and ascend shrubs, but never approach marshes or rivers; the only one which 
M. Gay accidentally discovered in these latter habitats, is a very small kind of 
Branchiobolelle, which has the singular habit of living in the pulmonary cavity 
of the Auricula Dombeii. M. Gay had previously discovered, in the environs of 
Santiago, another Leech of the same genus, which lives under the branchiae of a 
species of Lobster. (The Leeches of Chili, in their sylvan manners, resemble the 
Leeches of Ceylon.) 
A fact not less interesting is this; in these western regions the reptiles have 
a tendency to become viviparous. The greater number of those which M. Gay 
dissected, afforded him proofs of this assertion. Not only the harmless Snake of 
Valdivia brings forth living young, but likewise all the pretty Inguanians allied 
to the genus Leposoma of Spin, and which, from the beauty of the colours, M. 
Gay provisionally calls Chrysosatirus. Even those species which are oviparous 
at Santiago are here viviparous. The Batricians furnish some examples of the 
same fact, although in general they are all oviparous. However, a genus allied 
to the Rhinella of Fitzinger, consisting of several agreeably coloured species, is 
constantly viviparous, and consequently adds to the proofs of a fact the more 
