The San Francisco call., 1904-12-25
AVANTS FIND
WORM SECRETS
Scientists at University An
nounce the Results of
Curious Investigations
TWO BULLETINS ISSUED
Professor KOfOid Directs the
Examination Under Mi
crOscOpe of Tiny Crawlers
Berkeley Office San Francisco Call.

214S Center Street. Dec. "a.
Bulletins of unusual Importance and
interest to the scientific world were
Issued to-day by the University of Cal
ifornia, one being the work Of Pro-
fessor John F. Bovard. who worked
with Professor C. A. Kofoid in solving
the problem of the distribution of the
sense organs in microscolex. or the
California earth worm. and the other
an elaborate treatise by Harry Beal
Torrey upon the hydroids Of the San
Diego region.
The interesting method by which
the worms were prepared for examin-
alton is described by Professor Bo-
ward. The worms were allowed to
swim about awhile in water to free
them from grit and dirt, and were
then killed by allowing alcohol to
drip into the dish at the rate of 60
drops a minute. Thus the worms
were stupefied. After being hardened
they were preserved in alcohol. The
cuticle was then removed and
mounted. The plan was to count all
and to plat these so that their dis
tribution in any part might be seen
at glance. A high magnification
was necessary.
The work was carried on in the
geological laboratory of the Unlver-
sity of California under the guidance
of Professor Kofoid. Professor Bo-
ward says: 1.-The total number of
sense organs in a single lumbricus was
approximated by Miss Langdon C95)
at 10000. while for microscolex of
103 segments only 14,7S7 were found.
Thus microscolex, with approximately
one-fourth the surface of lumbricus,
has only one-tenth as many sense
organs.
THE distribution of the sense organs
suggests that the surface of the worm
is not equally sensitive In all parts.
Experiments to determine the sensi-
tiveness were made. with alcohol and
acids as irritants, sugar and quinine as
taste stimulants. A fine capillary
pipette was used for applying alcoholic
solutions of l per cent and less, SO
that a small quantity could be applied
to a small area. The time between
the application and some direct mani
festation of irritation was recorded by
a stop watch. The records show that
the anterior end is more sensitive than
the posterior, and the posterior more
than the middle part. Solutions of
quinine of one-thousandth of 1 per
cent and even less gave the same re-
suits as the alcohol The fact that the
animals reacted to the Quinine may
indicate that the sense organs have
some gustatory function. This might
be expected. for the difference in
structure between sense organs on the
outside of the body and those of the
pharynx is very slight. The sense or
gans of the pharynx are lower and a
great deal broader than the others.
The results of the last set of expert
ments are of Importance because they
show that the degree of sensitiveness
inferred from the differences in time
reactions of a given region is corre-
lated with the number of sense or
gans found therein. The ratio of the
number of organs in the anterior end
to those of the posterior is 3 2. while
the ratio of time reactions is approx
mately Z. Thus the ratio of the
numbers of sense organs in two given
areas is approximately inversely pro-
portional to that of the time re-
actions"
Harry Beal Torrey's paper deals
exhaustively with the hydroids or sea
plants of the San Diego region, his
investigation having been made at the
laboratory of the Marine Biological
Association, San Diego. His work is
concerned with a minute description
and analysis Of the local hydroids at
San Diego. of which there are forty
two known species. eight being new.
and all being represented in the col
Iections of the University of California
or of the Marine Biological Associa-
ton at San Diego. Accompanying
tables in the bulletin show the recog-
nized distribution of the hydroids.