To determine whether the diurnal variation in body temperature is due to the combined effects of the various influences which are known to act upon it, such as muscular exercise, the ingestion of food, sleep, etc., or is present independently of these, the daily routine of the individual who is the subject of the experiment may be reversed artificially by causing him to work during the night and rest and sleep during the day, or it may be modified in another way, viz. by rapidly changing his longitude in a journey from west to east, or vice versa. If the temperature of the body is dependent on the influences mentioned, then a total reversal of the daily routine, or any modification of it, should produce a corresponding change in the diurnal temperature curve.

My first knowledge of Stenomyelon Tuedianum was derived from a microscopical preparation in the collection of the late Mr C. W. Peach, A.L.S., which, through the kindness of his son, Dr B. N. Peach, F.R.S., subsequently came into my possession. The specimen was labelled as having been found “near Berwick.”

The Cephalopoda collected by the Scotia may, with a few trifling exceptions, be separated geographically into three divisions, coming respectively from South Africa, South America, and the Antarctic.

On a recent occasion, looking into a small shallow pool near Lahore, I saw here and there on its bottom a reddish appearance, which a closer examination showed to be due to innumerable worms, implanted by one extremity in the mud, and waving their free ends in the water. These were the Limnodrilus described below. A quantity of the mud taken for further examination yielded, though in very much smaller numbers, three other Oligochætes, viz. Branchiura sowerbyi, Lahoria hortensis, and a species of Dero.

So far as regards number of individuals, and their size, this is one of the largest collections of Ascidians brought back in recent years from Antarctic seas. It contains almost exactly the same number of species of Ascidiacea (Ascidiæ Simplices + Ascidiæ Compositæ) as the Discovery collection—viz. fifteen or sixteen—but whereas in the latter collection nearly all the species were represented by single specimens, in the Scotia collection most species can show long series of individuals—in all there are about two hundred specimens, as against the thirty-three brought home by the Discovery.

In the specimen under consideration there were fifteen pairs of ribs, of which nine pairs were vertebro-sternal. The costal cartilage associated with each of these was long and very flexible. The articulation of the first pair of costal cartilages with the sternum was effected by means of a short but strong band of fibrous tissue, which permitted considerable freedom of movement and did not form a junction of the more or less rigid character seen in man.

Since we had the pleasure of working out the Mollusca obtained by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, Dr W. S. Bruce has kindly transmitted to our care some additional material, overlooked in the first instance, and taken (a) from deposits from jars in which Sponges were placed; (b) from Algæ and other growths, principally coming from Scotia Bay; and (c) from a new species of Cephalodiscus.

The Brachiopoda of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of the S.Y. Scotia (1902–1904), though in some cases somewhat scanty in number of individuals, are of particular interest, mainly on account of increasing very materially our knowledge in regard to the geographical range of certain forms, as well as of adding other species to those already known from the Antarctic coast-line.

A girder built in to supports at one or at both ends and forming an arc of a circle in plan, is subjected, at each section, to both bending and twisting moments. At the supports, fixing moments of both kinds are called into play, and until these are known the resultant moment tending to cause rupture at any section is indeterminate. The following investigation is devoted to a consideration of the general state of elastic equilibrium of such a girder under various systems of loading.

The object of this investigation was not to obtain fresh data on the average strength of timber when subjected to destructive stresses. This has been done in great detail by Bauschinger, Lanza, Johnson, and others, and is still being carried on, in America, on a large scale under the Bureau of Forestry. The intention was rather (a) to find the effect of the medullary rays when timber was stressed in compression, tension, shear, or by cross-bending; and (b) to endeavour to connect up in a satisfactory way the maximum stresses induced in cross-breaking with those obtained by direct compression, tension, or shear. For this purpose, then, it was not necessary that the number of experiments should be excessive, but it was essential that the results obtained should be comparable one with another. To obtain this, a single tree of each variety of wood to be tested was procured, the test pieces were sawn out of the best part of the trunk, carefully stacked, and allowed to season for at least twelve months.

The Cestode material obtained by the Scotia Expedition consisted of eight adult and three larvæ or immature forms. Of these, one (Anchistrocephalus microcephalus, Rud.) is not Antarctic, having been obtained from the Sunfish (Orthagoriscus mola), at Station 107, in 39° 12′ S., 53° 44′ W., on January 1, 1903.

Shortly after my arrival in Britain in December 1911 I was honoured by a request from Dr W. S. Bruce, leader of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, that I would prepare a report on the Amphipoda collected during the voyage of the Scotia. Dr E. J. Allen, Director of the Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, very kindly offered me accommodation in the laboratory for the work, and free access to the library of the laboratory, which, fortunately, is very well supplied with works on the Crustacea. I was assured also of assistance from Mr T. V. Hodgson, the Curator of the Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth, from Mrs E. W. Sexton, and from other friends; and accordingly I undertook the work. I received the main portion of the collection, contained in sixty-three bottles, on the 8th January 1912, and a few days later I received from Dr W. M. Tattersall of the Manchester Museum eighteen tubes containing additional Amphipoda found among the Schizopoda of the Scottish National Expedition which had been submitted to him for determination; these additional specimens contained three or four species not represented in the collection first received.