provided with hairs, are placed midway in the tube of the funnelshaped, slightly curved, horizontal-lying corolla, their backs pressed against its upper wall. The style is as long as the tube, and runs along a little groove in the roof. The stigma consists of two lips; the upper is folded into a tube, and points straight forward. Through this lip alone is it possible for the pollen to fertilize the ovules. Pollen touching the lower lip would seem to be of no avail. What, then, is its use? In contrast to the other lip, it is spread open, and projects downwards over the entrance to the tube. Its use is to act as a lever in this way: if an insect alights on the limb and essays to enter, in so doing the lever is pushed in, so that the receptive surface of the upper lip is brought down on its back, where lies a supply of pollen from another flower. In this way, pollenization is secured. Passing on, the insect releases the lever, and the stigma assumes its former position. Now we have to see how, in the first place, the back of the insect became charged with pollen. In going to and returning from the nectar at the bottom of the flower, it would evidently brush the pollen off the hairs of the anthers above, by which it has been retained. This, then, is the use of the anther-hairs; had the pollen fallen to the floor of the tube, it could not have been carried away. The insect now has to pass out, and again the lever lip of the stigma comes into action. Just as it effected pollenization when the insect entered, so now it prevents contact of the pollen of its own flower. The upper and receptive lip is pushed up out of the way by pressure from within against the lever.

Under the microscope, I find that the edges of the two lips appear to be different; the papillæ of the receptive lip are shorter than those of the lever lip, and its edge is thickened. I am indebted, however, to bright weather for a strong confirmation of the mechanical views I have above expressed. I have then observed that the receptive lip has been bathed with mucus, while the lever lip has been quite dry: the one has thus been shown to be receptive, and the other not. The author says he has the support of Mr. Charles Darwin in saying that this peculiar structure is thus apparently correctly explained.*

The Stromatoporida.- Mr. H. J. Carter continues the discussion on this subject in the October number of the Annals,' under the title "The probable nature of the Animal which produced the Stromatoporida traced through Hydractinia, Millepora alcicornis, and Cannopora to Stromatopora," and in which the views of Dr. Dawson † and of Professor Nicholson and Dr. Murie‡ are criticized, the latter article, however, being referred to as a "valuable and welcome contribution."

Structure of Blood-corpuscles.--At the "Physiological Laboratory," University of Michigan, Dr. C. H. Stowell has continued his study on the structure of the red blood-corpuscles.

The method employed is that given by Professor Boettcher in the ' Archiv für Mik. Anat.,' vol. iv. §

*Journal of the Linnean Society' (Bot.), vol. xvii. p. 145.

† See p. 208.

‡ See p. 285.

§ 'M. M. J. vol xviii. p. 242.

The July number of New Preparations' contains the following account of recent experiments. Dr. Stowell says:

My experiments were performed on cats and rats, poisoning them with solutions of corrosive sublimate-in some cases bringing on death immediately, in others not until the lapse of several days. The blood was examined both before and after death, and no change was discerned in the appearance of the blood-corpuscles, except in a few instances, when there was noticed some change in their shape. This is not what one would anticipate from a perusal of Professor Boettcher's article.

However, by following the method given in the last number of your Journal, we have demonstrated this nucleus in the red corpuscle of man (as previously reported), the dog, cat, and rat. The most satisfactory result was obtained from the blood of the rat; the most unsatisfactory from that of a man. No value, however is attached to this fact.

By using higher powers than at first employed, we are positive there is a granular appearance to this nucleus, not present in other parts of the blood-cell. In some cases this is quite marked, especially when the nucleus is large; and also in those corpuscles where we have seen a nucleolus, this granular structure is very evident. This is what we should expect when accepting Beale's theory of protoplasmic

matter.

In some specimens examined, the proportion of nucleated to nonnucleated cells was very small indeed, while in other specimens the proportion was much greater.*

Is there a Science of Microscopy?-"To the student of natural science the microscope is, and always will be a mere tool. Microscopy, as a special science, has very little claim for existence. In so far as a certain familiarity with the instrument, and training in the proper management of the light and accessories, are necessary to enable one to use the instrument, it may be called a science. We should detract nothing from the merits of those who are expert in securing the most perfect performance of an objective.

Still, as a matter of fact-and plain facts should not give offence to anyone-we must admit that the great value of the microscope, as a means of investigation, lies in the aid it gives to almost every branch of science.

This leads us to a statement of what, in our opinion, a microscopical journal should be. Recognizing the value of microscopical study in the various branches of natural science, such a journal should aim to publish the results of research carried on with the microscope in every department.

This opens a wide field, and demands the attention of the naturalist, the physician, the lithologist, and the botanist, of all, in fact, whose study leads them to examine minute structure, and there are few indeed, at the present day, who find no use for a microscope. While we so plainly deny the claims of microscopy to the position of

* American Quarterly Microscopical Journal,' vol. i. p. 46.

a science, at the present day, we as strongly urge its claims as an invaluable adjunct in many studies.

Surely it has revealed isolated facts in structure and growth, it has created the sciences of biology and embryology, it has added much to our knowledge of morphology, and become of incalculable benefit to the physiologist and practising physician; and yet, of what real value would all its revelations be to us, without the systematic grouping of facts and knowledge which comes with the development of these sciences; some of which, indeed, the microscope has helped to create?" *

This is one view of the question. It is intended in the next number to give a translation of Dr. Ed. Kaiser's article on the same subject in the last number of the Berlin 'Zeitschrift für Mikroskopie.'

On a rare Form of the Hepatic Organ in the Worms.—In the generality of worms the liver, represented by a cellular layer attached to the intestinal wall, and covering it to a greater or less extent, appears to differ fundamentally from the same organ in the Mollusca, Crustacea, &c.

The examination of certain types shows, however, that this distinction is far from being as absolute as might at first be thought, and in some of the Annelida, belonging to the genus Hirudo, or Chatopoda, the biliary secretion has a tendency to localize itself in small cæca inserted on the margins of the intestinal canal; but these cases, which nearly always coincide with peculiar conditions of the digestive tube, are too rare and too imperfect to show an actual morphological relationship with the arrangements peculiar to the higher Invertebrata. The latter, on the contrary, were found, in all their essential characteristics, in a Helminth which I recently had an opportunity of examining, and the observation of which proved most instructive in this respect.

This Nematoid, belonging to the Agamonemæ, was seen by Dies encysted in the muscles of various fishes, and was sent to me by M. H. Filhol, who collected many specimens of them during his stay in Campbell Island. In this species the initial or esophageal region of the digestive tube is somewhat slender, and presents no other glands but small follicles of irregular shape containing a viscid hyaline fluid studded with fine greyish granulations.

The middle intestine which immediately succeeds, is readily recognized by the inequality between its diameter and that of the preceding portion; this difference is owing less to a sensible increase in the calibre of the intestinal tube than to the development of an external mass of a brownish colour which surrounds it and appears to be blended with it.

If this mass is teased and viewed with an amplification of 12o, and then of 350, it will be evident that it is formed of glandular tissue. It is composed, in fact, of a multitude of culs-de-sac bounded by a fine membrane, which becomes slightly thicker at the periphery. In their interior are seen a great number of rounded granulations brownish or

*American Quarterly Microscopical Journal,' vol. i. p. 58.

yellowish in colour; the absence of epithelial elements is easily explained by the state of the animal.

The structure of the organ recalling, in all its principal features, the constitution of the liver of the Crustacea and Mollusca; its affinities resembling those which it affects in certain of them (Squilla, &c.), oblige us to regard it as a new form in the worms, and show that if the majority of these animals deviate in this respect from the other Invertebrata, there are some which deserve to be classed with them and possess like them a true hepatic gland."

*

The Sting of the Honey Bee.-The new American Quarterly Microscopical Journal' commences with an article by Mr. J. D. Hyatt, of 11 pages (with 2 plates), on this object, which the author describes as one which "our naturalists have either imperfectly understood or else the records of their knowledge are so concealed in voluminous reports of scientific societies as to be practically inaccessible to the amateur microscopist.

It is true that we have in most of our books that treat of microscopic objects, a general description of this mechanism, and if we go to the head waters and consult such original investigators as Burmeister, Westwood, and numerous others, but above all the admirable researches of M. Lacaze-Duthiers, we shall greatly extend our knowledge. Yet after having, at great expenditure of time, consulted all these and many other works, we may come back to our slide containing the dissected sting, and still find an inexplicable mystery in some of its parts. This has been my experience, and with a view of determining more accurately the entire mechanism of this intricate and complicated structure, I have carefully observed its action, so far as possible in the living insect, and by numerous dissections, in which I have traced every point of connection of the various pieces, and tested every possible movement of the parts upon each other, and made transverse sections through every point in its entire length. I now venture to place before you the result of my investigations." The article cannot unfortunately be usefully abstracted, and we can only refer to the Journal itself, of which a copy is in the library.

New Diatoms.-Mr. F. Kitton sends the following:

Melosira Borreri (Grev.), var. hispida, Castracane. This variety is distinguished from the type by the presence of teeth or short spines scattered over the surface of the valve, and more especially at the base of the convex part of the frustule. Canal de Trau, Dalmatia.

CYCLOPHORA TENUIS, Noy. GEN., Nov. SP., OF M. DE CASTRACANE. Cyclophora, n. g.-Frustula tabulata, rectangula vel in fascias conjuncta, vel soluta, vel isthmo gelineo alternatim conjuncta, a fronte oblonga linearia, vel parum inflata; valvis inæqualibus, quarum una

* M. Joannes Chatin, in 'Comptes Rendus,' vol. lxxxvi. p. 974.
American Quarterly Microscopical Journal,' vol. i. p. 3.

annulo vel loculo centrali instructa.

marina.

Individua vivunt in aqua

C. tenuis, n. s.-Frustula a latere oblongo-rectangula, medio tumidula; valvis lineari-inflatis, polis rotundatis; una valvarum loculo centrali rotundo instructa, in sectione subquadrato. Long. valvarum, 44 μ 5-55 μ 2; lat. 4 μ 8-11 μ 3. Habitat Anconæ ad scopulum Ste. Clementis, Neapolim in aquario.

(Atti della Accad. Pontif., 1878, 2a sess.: extracted from BREBISSONIA, No. 2, 1878-a new illustrated monthly serial devoted to Algology and Micrographic Botany, edited by M. G. Huberson.)

The American Quarterly Microscopical Journal'* also contains figures and descriptions by Professor H. L. Smith of the following new diatoms (all n. sp. H. L. S.) :—

Homeocladia capitata.-Black Rock, Cal.
Meridion intermedium.-Knoxville, Tenn.
Navicula Kutzingiana.-Avranches, Normandy.

Navicula parvula.-Villerville (France).

Nitzschia Kittoni.—River Catuche, Caracas, Venezuela.
Raphoneis australis.-Royal Sound, Kergueland's Land.
Rhizosolenia Eriensis.-Lake Erie, Lake Michigan.
Cestodiscus Baileyi.-Lower Lake, Klamath.

Amphora mucronata.-Atlantic Marshes, Cape May, N.J.
Actinocyclus Niagara.-Lake Erie.

In regard to the last species, the author says that its occurrence in fresh water is sufficiently remarkable, as all the members of the genus hitherto known are marine, and he concludes that it is one of those diatoms living at considerable depths, and which are only brought up by dredging or storms. That diatoms flourish in immense abundancenotably, the Coscinodisceœ-at great depths is indicated by many of the 'Tuscarora' soundings; some of these, from depths of over three miles, were almost wholly Coscinodiscus omphalanthus and its varieties, fully charged with endochrome; and belts of "diatom ooze" at considerable depths were also found by the 'Challenger' naturalists.

Kutzing's Diatomacea. In regard to N. Kutzingiana, Professor Hamilton Smith says:-" "I give to it the name of the celebrated algologist, Kutzing, whose numerous figures of Diatomaceæ, though but mere outlines sketched by aid of a microscope that would scarcely be looked at, much less through, at the present day, possess more of the character and catch more of the spirit of the living species than many of the representations of modern days, and whose descriptions are models of accuracy and conciseness. The more I study his plates, the more I admire their conscientious accuracy and faithfulness."

Collecting Copepoda. A few words as to the best modes of collecting Copepoda is given in Dr. G. S. Brady's "Monograph of the Free and Semi-parasitic Copepoda of the British Islands."† Printed for the Ray Society, 1878.

*Vol. i. p. 12.