ALBERT

Description: The author mentions a second find of Lactuca tatarica (L.) C. A. Mey. in the harbour of Rotterdam in 1966, in a ruderal locality. The number of specimens increased in 1967.

Description: Five species of Atriplex s.s. have been found as aliens in the Netherlands. In the following key the indigenous A. laciniata and the species belonging to the A. patula-complex have been included. Of the latter a tentative revision will appear next year. The key is to be used for dried plants with completely mature fruits only.

Description: In 1965 and 1966 four specimens of the South American moth, Antichloris eriphia (J. C. Fabricius, 1777) were met with in the Netherlands. They had been imported with bananas.

Description: Pendant longtemps \xe2\x80\x94 et pour des raisons pratiques \xc3\xa9videntes \xe2\x80\x94 la syst\xc3\xa9matique des Reptiles a \xc3\xa9t\xc3\xa9 bas\xc3\xa9e essentiellement sur la morphologie externe et sur les caract\xc3\xa8res ost\xc3\xa9ologiques; seuls ces derniers sont d\xe2\x80\x99ailleurs accessibles aux pal\xc3\xa9ontologistes. L\xe2\x80\x99anatomie interne n\xe2\x80\x99a gu\xc3\xa8re \xc3\xa9t\xc3\xa9 utilis\xc3\xa9e qu\xe2\x80\x99au niveau des ordres ou, tout au plus, des sous-ordres, \xc3\xa0 l\xe2\x80\x99exception de la langue et des muscles qui ont jou\xc3\xa9 un r\xc3\xb4le important dans la classification des Squamates. Enfin, l\xe2\x80\x99histologie a \xc3\xa9t\xc3\xa9 \xc3\xa0 peu pr\xc3\xa8s n\xc3\xa9glig\xc3\xa9e. Il est certain que les parties molles, dont la forme varie parfois autant d\xe2\x80\x99un individu ou d\xe2\x80\x99une esp\xc3\xa8ce \xc3\xa0 l\xe2\x80\x99autre qu\xe2\x80\x99entre les diff\xc3\xa9rentes familles, se pr\xc3\xaatent moins ais\xc3\xa9ment \xc3\xa0 la comparaison. D\xe2\x80\x99autre part, l\xe2\x80\x99examen histologique demande beaucoup plus de temps et, surtout, exige une dissection suivant imm\xc3\xa9diatement la mort.\nCependant, au cours de ces derni\xc3\xa8res ann\xc3\xa9es, de nombreux travaux ont \xc3\xa9t\xc3\xa9 consacr\xc3\xa9s \xc3\xa0 la morphologie compar\xc3\xa9e des glandes endocrines, si bien qu\xe2\x80\x99il nous a sembl\xc3\xa9 opportun d\xe2\x80\x99en faire le point et de chercher ce que cette m\xc3\xa9thode peut apporter \xc3\xa0 la phylog\xc3\xa9nie et \xc3\xa0 la syst\xc3\xa9matique des Reptiles. Faute de documents, nous n\xe2\x80\x99y incluerons pas les tissus endocrines des gonades, ni la glande parathyro\xc3\xafde.

Description: One of the more recent acquisitions of the Artis-Bibliotheek is an interesting edition of Buffon\xe2\x80\x99s Histoire Naturelle. It is a copy of the edition by Pieter de Hondt in the Hague in 1750 (GENET-VARCIN et ROGER, 1954, nr. 148; NISSEN, 1966, nr. 677; TUIJN, 1967, Note II, nr. 1). As far as I have been able to ascertain, no copy of this edition has thusfar been in the possession of any dutch public library. Our copy, with book-plates of Grandjean d\xe2\x80\x99Alteville (ROLLAND, 1954, p. 144) and Andr\xc3\xa9 Gaultry, is composed of 3 volumes 4\xc2\xb0 bound together in leather. In connection with my supposition (l.c.) that no further volumes of this edition would have been published and that Schneider possibly would have taken over, now the opportunity offers itself to compare the de Hondt and Schneider editions and to look for differences between these editions and the original Paris edition, the first three volumes whereof appeared in 1749.

Description: Extensive reports on losses in zoo animals are very rare. As fas as we know only London, Paris, Philadelphia and Washington give yearly reports. Of these London and Paris give very complete information. One of the reasons that so few zoos publish their results may be that it is always more pleasant to give information about successes than about failures.\nIn our opinion, however, it is no use to disguise the truth and for other zoos it can be very useful to have the opportunity to compare results. The period described in this paper is part of an important era in the history of our zoo, a period of reconstruction, rebuilding and, of increasing the collection. This period will last another 10-15 years or so as at that time the really old and worn-out buildings will have been replaced and appropriate facilities for the veterinarian will have been achieved. At the same time this period has seen great advances in veterinary care. The Cap-Chur pistol in use in our zoo since 1960 made injection possible of any animal at any time. The increasing arsenal of therapeutics and the international contacts by way of the international symposia on diseases of zoo animals have contributed largely to a better medical care of zoo animals. Thus prevention of diseases is becoming more and more important. In our opinion the effective disinfectant halamid (Chloraminum) plays an important r\xc3\xb4le in this respect.

Description: Misshapen spines in sea-urchins of the family Echinothuridae were observed several times by the famous Danish echinoderm specialist, the late Dr. Th. Mortensen. The swellings were caused, he discovered, by a small crustacean inhabiting a cavity in the swelling. He entrusted his material to H. J. HANSEN, who published a detailed study on the phenomenon in 1902, whereas new samples discovered later on were studied by K. STEPHENSEN (1935). Apart from these two publications, no new observations concerning these galls in sea-urchin spines have been published.\nHANSEN gives an illustration of the transformed spine (1902, pl. XV fig. 1); this illustration, copied in the present paper (fig. 1a) gives the impression that the parasite inhabits a thickened part at the top of the host\xe2\x80\x99s spines. Hansen must have dealt with a spine whose distal part was broken off or he figured one of the club-shaped spines that normally, thus without interference of a parasite, occur in Echinothuridae. The galls caused by copepods occur always halfway the spine (our figures 1 b-d); they are not unlike birdnests glued against a stem. The swelling illustrated by Hansen is a symmetrical one, the galls actually found are asymmetrical.

Description: Three modes of evolution are distinguished: 1. evolutionary radiation, 2. opportunistic adaptation, 3. sustained change. Material evidence of evolution is almost non-existent in the first mode, very slight in the second. Opportunistic adaptation is characteristic of the sublittoral benthos; sustained change is associated with low faunal diversity.

Description: Keeping and breeding animals which are threatened with extinction in their natural habitat, should be one of the most important tasks of zoological gardens today. Efforts should be focussed on finding the zootechnical solution of problems which will arise inevitably, especially if rare species, or those that have the reputation of being difficult to keep or to breed, are concerned.\nThe Orang-Utan ( Pongo pygmaeus (Hoppius)) has been kept in Zoos for more than a century. As a matter of fact this species was on exhibition regularly in the Zoos of the Netherlands during the nineteenth century. Orang-Utans were, a hundred years ago, much more common in the Zoological Gardens of Amsterdam and Rotterdam than Chimpanzees. Longevity records however were very poor indeed. Hundreds and hundreds of these apes must have been imported on Dutch ships to keep up a regular stock. This is not surprising, because the least knowledge of the basic needs of these apes was lacking. Unsuitable food, lack of medicine and the wrong opinion that tropical animals should be kept in overheated quarters, caused the death of innumerable animals. The direct cause of death was either intestinal trouble or Tuberculosis. Under these circumstances breeding could not be expected. The first female Orang-Utan which came to a Zoo with its baby, the famous Buschi in Dresden Zoo, caused quite a sensation. But even in recent times the breeding of apes proved to be difficult. With better zoo-technical knowledge, Chimpanzees can be bred regularly. Orang-Utan and Gorilla however maintained the reputation of being difficult breeders. The first Zoo that started breeding Orangs regularly was Philadelphia. Afterwards several other Zoos, among which the Royal Rotterdam Zoo, succeeded in building up a breeding group. The Rotterdam Zoo was the first in breeding a second generation.

Description: On 22-VII-1960 I caught some specimens of Salamandra salamandra fastuosa Schreiber between Lago Ercina and Lago Enol, \xc2\xb1 1000 m above Covadonga (Picos de Europa, Cantabrian Mountains, Spain). On 14-VIII-1961 from one of the salamanders two young were born (length 40 and 45 mm). Only one specimen showed traces of gills \xc2\xb1 1.5 mm long, both specimens were in all other characters completely metamorphosed, also the colour pattern resembled the typical fastuosa-pattern, i.e. longitudinal yellow stripes almost without interruption (see fig. 1). The 15th of August two more young were born, both with gills, the smallest specimen (35 mm) in the form of a normal larva (fig. 2) with gills of \xc2\xb1 4 mm and with a normal larval coloration. One day later a fifth young was born, also purely larval in form and colour. The last one was completely metamorphosed on 3-X-1961. Freytag mentions 2-3 months for the larval period, so the development of the young fastuosa which were not discernable from normal larvae, took only a relatively short time. No more than 5 young were born.\nIn March 1967 the same female deposited \xc2\xb1 30 unfertilized eggs in the water of the paludarium. The difference between the small litter and the large number of eggs (in large specimens 70 or more larvae may be born) suggests a same kind of pregnancy as in Salamandra atra, in which only two completely metamorphosed young are born, which are fed before birth with the other eggs.