The present paper embodies the results of an investigation into the glacial phenomena of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, west of Annandale and Upper Clydesdale.

The literature dealing with the glaciation of this extensive region is very meagre. Apart from the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Scotland, only a few and scattered papers and occasional references bear upon the subject. These will be noted in the course of the paper as occasion arises.

In the course of researches into the glaciation of the western part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland the writer accidentally stumbled upon a series of large and continuous moraines bordering the Central Valley. Some of these had been observed and described by earlier workers, others—probably constituting the larger part—had either escaped detection or had been differently interpreted.

The solution of the problem presented by these moraines not only required their careful mapping from coast to coast, but also inevitably led to an attempt to decipher the history of the retreat of the ice out of the Central Valley.

Kainozoic eruptives, preponderantly of basaltic composition, occupy parts of Scotland, Ireland, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and King Charles Land, the major part of Franz Josef Land, and the entirety of Iceland, the Faeroes, and Jan Mayen. These regions have been grouped together as the Thulean or Brito-Arctic Petrographic Province (fig. l); they represent the relics of an extensive basaltic plateau-land, the greater part of which foundered beneath the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans in late Kainozoic times. By virtue of its size, central position, diversity, and accessibility, Iceland is perhaps the most instructive region in the whole province. The interest in that country is heightened, furthermore, by the fact that whereas in all the other regions mentioned, with the exception of Jan Mayen, vulcanicity expired before the advent of the Pleistocene and did not recur, Iceland became the theatre of a vigorous resumption of igneous activity which took place in Early-glacial times, and has continued uninterruptedly to the present day.

Our knowledge of the earliest stages of blood-vascular development in the human embryo suffers from a dearth of suitable material. Early human specimens are not frequently available for examination; many are pathological; some, although of value for other purposes, are not sufficiently well preserved to furnish observations on angiogenesis; direct microscopic observation of the tissues while undergoing development cannot be carried out as is possible, say, in the chick embryo. Our knowledge of the process must be based on descriptions of separate specimens representing different stages. Individual specimens, therefore, are worthy of careful record.

Since Graf V. Spee's admirable work Die Implantation des Meerschweincheneies in die Uteruswand, published in 1901, little has been done to add to our knowledge of the implantation of the embryo of Cavia. His deductions seemed conclusive and passed almost unchallenged into the general literature as an essential part of our knowledge of mammalian embryology.

The development of the hypophysis cerebri throughout the Vertebrates has attracted the attention of many workers, and our knowledge of its development and adult structure is comprehensive in many forms of the Reptilia, Amphibia, Fishes, in certain Marsupials, and in several of the best-known Mammals.

Its development in man has recently been investigated by Rudel (1) and by Hochstetter (12), but the small number of specimens as yet examined and described by these and other writers makes it desirable that further work should be done on this subject.

Ardsheal Hill is situated in Argyllshire amidst country of great petrographic interest. It is easily reached by road or rail, for it overlooks the main road from Oban to Port William, and is under 2 miles from the station of Kentallen on the Ballachulish Branch of the L.M.S. Railway. The area considered in the present communication is bounded by Loch Linnhe on the west and on the east by the above-mentioned road.

During the course of experiments on the toxic effects of tetrachlorethane on minnows, Phoxinus phoxinus (L.), Mr J. Wilson Dougal, B.SC., found “cellular bodies” in a portion of the brain tissue of a dead minnow which he had spread on a microscopic slide. Sections of the head of the minnow were subsequently made by Mr Richard Muir and submitted to me for an opinion on the nature of the bodies. Examination showed that they were immature Trematodes of the family Holostomidæ. I handed the sections and a living minnow, sent at the same time (May 1923), to Miss Bannerman for further study, remarking that the only Trematode hitherto recorded as occurring in the brain of fresh-water fish in Britain was a Tetracotyle in the brain of the lamprey and the ammocœte. I subsequently directed her attention to Mataré's account (1910) of a similar worm which had been found in the brain of minnows collected in Switzerland and in Germany. Miss Bannerman studied numerous examples of the parasite during June and July 1923 and in September 1925, but she had to leave in October 1925, before the work could be completed, to take up a post in India. The comparison with previously recorded species of Tetracotyle, the discussion on the morphology of the ventral sucker, the account of the excretory canals, and a number of details in other parts have been added since she left.—J. H. A.

The Vittarieæ, as described by Christensen, comprises five genera, viz. Vittaria, Monogramma, Antrophyum, Hecistopteris, and Anetium, all of which are epiphytic forms growing in the damp forests of the Old and New World Tropics. All of them possess creeping rhizomes on which the fronds are arranged more or less definitely in two rows on the dorsal surface. The fronds are simple in outline, with the exception of those of Hecistopteris which are dichotomously branched. The venation of the fronds is reticulate, except in Hecistopteris where there is an open, dichotomous system of veins, and in Monogramma, in some species of which the venation consists simply of a mid-rib. An interesting feature, which has proved to be valuable as a diagnostic character, is the presence of “spicule cells” in the epidermis of the fronds. These spicule cells are elongated cells containing spicules of silica, and their presence appears to be universal in the Vittarieæ. The sporangia are fairly constant in form through-out the group, but their distribution is extremely varied. The roots are characteristically provided with very numerous reddish-brown root hairs, a character shared with other epiphytic Ferns. The Gametophyte is divergent from the common cordate type in all cases where it has been investigated. Such are the main external characteristics of the group under consideration.

The general biology of the Mysids has recently been studied at great length by Blegvad (1922) at Copenhagen. His paper, containing a very complete literature list, deals with Mysis inermis, Rathke, Mysis flexuosa, Müller, and Mysis neglecta, Sars. His comments on feeding are limited, and refer chiefly to the nature of the food that the animals ate in captivity. Gelderd's work (1909) on the digestive system of the Schizopoda describes the course taken by the food through the gastric mill, the masticatory functions of this apparatus, and the method by which the masticated food and digestive juices are brought together, but does not deal with the manner in which the food reaches the stomach. An account, then, of the method by which a mysid collects its food would fill a gap in our knowledge of these forms. The only description, as far as we are aware, of the feeding habits of a mysid is that of Depdolla (1923), who worked on Praunus [Mysis] flexuosus, but his account is superficial and in our opinion very inaccurate. The following paper deals with the feeding habits of a small mysid, Hemimysis lamornœ, about 8 mm. long, which has established itself in the larger fish-tanks at the M.B.A. laboratory at Plymouth. It breeds freely all the year round, and can be obtained from the tanks in abundance, although it is stated to be only a rare visitor in the Plymouth district.

So barren of fossil remains is the Cementstone Group of the Scottish Lower Carboniferous Rocks that any addition to our knowledge of the fauna and flora of the period is especially welcome. The list of vertebrate remains is notably meagre, and such as have been found, e.g. at Abden, are generally very fragmentary.

The collection to be described below contained nearly 150 specimens, and includes Plants, Lamellibranchs, Annelids, Arthropods, and Fishes: of these the Plants and Fishes are by far the most important, and constitute more than two-thirds ot the total number of specimens.