natürlichen Immunität. Beitr. zur pathol. Anatomie u. allg. Pathologie,' 12. B., 1893. Sulla connessione dello stomaco ed il circolo delle lacune sanguigne aborali nelle Ophiothrichidae.' 'Zool. Specie di Echinodermi poco conosciuti e nuovi viventi nel Golfo di Napoli.' Napoli,' vol. 6, 1893. 'Atti R. Accad. Sc. Fis. e Mat. Bemerkungen über Infection, Immunität u. Heilung. 'Beiträge zur pathol. Anatomie u. allg. Pathologie,' 12. B., 1893. Vergl. Entwick.-Geschichte von Pelagia noctiluca. Monografia delle Aplysiidæ del Golfo di Napoli. 'Soc. 'Atti R. Ricerche sulle Pettida del Golfo di Napoli. 6 6 Dorippe. Studio morfologico. Atti R. Acc. Sc. Fis. e Zur Verlagerung der Blastomeren des Echinideneiss. Entwickelungsmechanische Studien. VII. Exogastrula Weitere Beiträge zur Physiologie des Ohrlabyrinthes. Akad.', Abth. III., 101. B, 1893. II. Mitth. Versuche 1893. Ueber die Herzthätigkeit bei einigen Evertebraten u. deren Ueber Lebensweise u. Entwickelungsgeschichte der Ostra- Echinoderm Spermatogenesis. 'Anat. Anzeiger,' 8. Jgg., Studien über Pigmentzellen. 1. Ueber die Anordnung des Cotylogaster Michaelis. Festschrift Leuckart.,' 1893. Zool. Jahrb.,' Sup A. Newstead . C. Crety. G. Jatta. G. von Koch D. Carazzi On the perivisceral cavity of Ciona. Quart. Journ. Micr. Intorno alla struttura delle ova delle Oloturie. 'Boll. Sopra l'organo dell' imbuto nei Cefalopodi. Boll. Soc. Photographische Abbildungen von lebenden Seethieren. Revisione del genere Polydora e cenni su due specie che Studien zur Phylogenie der äusseren Genitalien bei Wirbelthieren. I. Theil. Ibid. Ueber Stoffbildung bei den Meeresalgen. Ibid. Ueber den feineren Bau der Thymus u. deren Beziehungen Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Baues der Euchytraeiden. Ueber den sog. weissen Körper, sowie über die embryonale Ueber Caulerpa prolifera, ein Beitrag zur Erforsch. der Form und Richtkräfte in Pflanzen. Flora, oder allg. botan. Zeitung,' Heft 5, 1893. Ueber paradoxe Zuckung. Zeitschr. f. Biologie.,' 30. B., Physiolog. Untersuchungen an Eledone moschata. II. Die Ueber den Stoffumsatz in dem thätigen electrischen Organ The Zoology of the Sandwich Islands.-Fourth Report of the Committee, consisting of Professor A. NEWTON (Chairman), Dr. W. T. BLANFORD, Dr. S. J. HICKSON, Professor C. V. RILEY, Mr. O. SALVIN, Dr. P. L. SCLATER, Mr. E. A. SMITH, and Mr. D. SHARP (Secretary). THE Committee were reappointed to continue their report on the present state of our knowledge of the zoology of the Sandwich Islands and to take steps to investigate ascertained deficiencies in the fauna, with power to co-operate with the committee appointed for the purpose by the Royal Society, and to avail themselves of such assistance as may be offered by the Hawaiian Government. During the past year your Committee have been harmoniously cooperating with that appointed by the Royal Society, and Mr. Perkins's labours in the islands have been satisfactorily continued. Since your Committee last reported Mr. Perkins has been diligently exploring in succession Molokai, Lanai, and Maui, from the first two of which very considerable collections in almost all branches of the terrestrial fauna have already been received, while one is shortly expected from the third. By the last accounts he was about to proceed to Kauai. Although far from having completed the zoological exploration of the archipelago, the Committee have thought it best that Mr. Perkins should return home in the course of the autumn, and have instructed him accordingly. They hope to obtain his assistance, in conjunction with that of other competent zoologists, towards working out his extensive collections, the value of which it is difficult to over-estimate, since evidence of the growing scarcity of many, and of the extinction of not a few members of the endemic fauna becomes stronger the more the subject is investigated. In view of making arrangements necessary for this purpose your Committee request that they may be reappointed, with the same powers as before, but they do not ask on the present occasion for any grant of money. The Present State of our Knowledge of the Zoology and Botany of the West India Islands, and on taking Steps to Investigate ascertained Deficiencies in the Fauna and Flora.-Seventh Report of the Committee, consisting of Dr. P. L. SCLATER (Chairman), Mr. GEORGE MURRAY (Secretary), Mr. W. CARRUTHERS, Dr. A. C. L. G. GÜNTHER, Dr. D. SHARP, Mr. F. DUCANE GODMAN, and Professor A. NEWTON. THIS Committee was appointed in 1887, and it has been reappointed each year until the present time. The Committee have to report satisfactory progress in obtaining reports on the collections made by the Committee's collectors, and this task of working out the results has engaged their exclusive attention during the year. The following reports have been published (or are complete and ready for publication) since the last annual report : 1. Report on the parasitic Hymenoptera of St. Vincent by Messrs. Riley, Ashmead, and Howard (Linnean Society). The corresponding group from Grenada has been sent to these authors. 2. Report on the Hemiptera of St. Vincent by Dr. Uhler (Zoological Society). 3. Report on the Ants of St. Vincent by Professor Forel (Entomological Society). 4. Part III. dealing with the Diplopoda and Protoacheata of Mr. Pocock's report (Linnean Society), with a supplement on the Pedipalpi. 5. Report on the Trichopterygida and Corylophide by the Rev. M. Matthews (Annals and Magazine of Natural History). 6. Report on the Attide of St. Vincent by Mr. Peckham (Zoological Society). 7. Report on the Diptera of St. Vincent by Professors Williston and Aldrich (Linnean Society). 8. Report on the Hepatica of St. Vincent and Dominica by Richard Spruce (Linnean Society). 9. Report on the Freshwater Algae (including those of the boiling lake of Dominica) by Mr. William West (Linnean Society). 10. Report on the Spiders of St. Vincent, Part II., by M. Simon (Zoological Society). The report on the Musci has been completed by Mr. Gepp, and will be presented to the Linnean Society. The Marine Algae have been named by Mr. George Murray, who does not consider the result worth separate publication, and the Lichenes (the only remaining group of plants) are in the hands of Professor Wainio for determination. The large collection of Coleoptera from St. Vincent and Grenada, numbering 27,980 specimens, has been arranged by Messrs. Sharp and Gahan, and its treatment will receive the Committee's immediate attention. The Committee recommend their reappointment, with the following members-Dr. Sclater (Chairman), Mr. George Murray (Secretary), Mr. Carruthers, Professor Newton, Mr. Godman, Dr. Günther, and Dr. Sharp. They also recommend that a grant of 2001. be placed at their disposal to enable them to continue their work and to adequately provide for the exploration of Margarita. Investigations made at the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association at Plymouth.-Report of the Committee, consisting of Professor E. RAY LANKESTER (Chairman), Professor M. FOSTER, Professor S. H. VINES, and Mr. G. C. BOURNE (Secretary). On the Development of Alcyonium. By Dr. S. J. HICKSON. On the Later Stages in the Development of Decapod Crustacea. By EDGAR J. ALLEN. THE Committee were appointed for the purpose of enabling Dr. S. J. Hickson to investigate the development of Alcyonium at the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth. The Committee have received the following report from Dr. Hickson, and a supplementary report from Mr. Edgar J. Allen, who occupied the table during June and July 1893 On the Development of Alcyonium. By Dr. S. J. HICKSON, M.A. On my arrival at Plymouth early in the month of December last I experienced a great difficulty in obtaining a sufficient quantity of material, in consequence of the severe storms then raging. The few specimens of Alcyonium I obtained contained large quantities of ripe ova or sacs containing ripe spermatozoa. They spawned freely in the tanks of the aquarium, but I was not successful in fertilising the ova artificially, as the water of the tanks affected injuriously the spermatozoa. I succeeded, however, in obtaining a few young embryos by keeping the specimens in fresh sea-water in buckets. Soon after Christmas the sea became calmer and I obtained plenty of colonies, but they were nearly all spent and useless for my investigations. The results I have obtained confirm those of Kowalewsky. I can find no trace of any karyokinetic division of the first segmentation nucleus, although these figures can be easily demonstrated in the later stages. While I was waiting for sufficient material to study the embryology of Alcyonium, I devoted a considerable amount of time to a study of the minute anatomy and physiology of the genus. A full account of these investigations will appear in a paper now nearly ready for publication. Researches on the Later Stages in the Development of Decapod Crustacea. By EDGAR J. ALLEN, B.Sc. London. My attention during the months, June and July 1893, when I occupied the Association table, was devoted chiefly to the study of the nervous system. After repeated trials on a number of decapod embryos and larvæ, a satisfactory subject for research was found in the embryonic lobster, many of the nerve elements of which stain excellently in dilute solutions of methylene blue. My observations, after being continued and extended, were published in a preliminary paper read before the Royal Society in April 1894, whilst a fully illustrated account will shortly appear in the 'Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.' The following nerve-elements are amongst the most important of those which I was able to demonstrate during the time which I occupied the Association table : (1) Elements starting from a cell in one ganglion of the thorax and giving off a fibre, which, after sending numerous arborescent branches to the neuropile of that ganglion, ends in a small tuft of fine branches in the next ganglion behind. (2) Elements starting from a cell in one ganglion of the thorax, giving off a fibre which sends out lateral arborescent branches in the ganglion, passes forwards to the next ganglion, where it gives off a small tuft of branches, and finally ends in a tuft of branches in the ganglion next but one in front of that in which the cell lay. The terminal tuft of each element lies close to the lateral tuft of the corresponding element of the next ganglion, and opposite the terminal tuft of the elements of Group 1. (3) Elements starting from a cell in a ganglion giving off a fibre, which passes through one of the lateral nerves and finally breaks up upon a muscle. The Influence of Previous Fertilisation of the Female on her Subsequent Offspring, and the Effect of Maternal Impressions during Pregnancy on the Offspring.-Interim Report of the Committee, consisting of Dr. A. RUSSEL WALLACE (Chairman), Dr. JAMES CLARK (Secretary), Dr. G. J. ROMANES, Professor S. J. HICKSON, Professor E. A. SCHÄFER, and Dr. J. N. LANGLEY. (Drawn up by the Secretary). THE members of this Committee wish to express their deep sense of the irreparable loss they have sustained in the death of Dr. Romanes, whose previous experience in this difficult field of inquiry rendered his judgment and advice invaluable. During the past year the efforts of the Committee have been mainly directed to collecting facts and statistics relating to Telegony. In this they have received considerable assistance from the principal agricultural clubs in the country, and have been offered assistance by several societies in France, Switzerland, Germany, and America. Twenty-five preliminary reports have also been received from veterinary surgeons in Scotland and the North of England. In all over 900 letters and reports have been received. The majority, however, are too vague to be of any service, and many correspondents send generalisations' based on personal observation and experience,' instead of recording facts. In the description of actual cases, too, the data supplied are generally too meagre. On account of the difficulty of obtaining reliable and sufficient data, the Committee consider it advisable to defer the publication of the collected facts until the important points connected with each can be verified or corroborated. An examination of the pedigree cattle and of the stud-books and prizebred horses of Yorkshire is also in progress, and will, it is hoped, be completed in the course of a few months. The belief in Telegony among breeders and fanciers is very widely spread. The general consensus of opinion among our correspondents is that it frequently occurs in cats, occasionally in dogs and horses, rarely in birds, and almost never in cattle and sheep. The majority of the writers further insist that it is the first fertilisation only that has any effect upon subsequent offspring by a different male. On account of the amount of work that still remains to be done, the Committee respectfully request that they may be re-appointed for another year. |