ALBERT

Description: In an adult female of the common eel Anguilla anguilla a large lipoma was found, situated on the left side, caudally of the left operculum. Microscopically, the tumour, which originated from the subcutaneous connective tissue, was composed of areas of adipose tissue and areas of fibrous connective tissue.\nThe tumour belongs to the fibrolipomatous type and shows a striking resemblance with the lipoma, described by Stolk (in press) in the lizard Lacerta muralis.

Description: Twenty-one species of Distichopora have been described after specimens from various localities in the Indo-Pacific region, viz., D. violacea (Pallas, 1766) from \xe2\x80\x9cMare Indicum\xe2\x80\x9d, D. cinnabarina Nardo, 1844, from the Red Sea (?), D. gracilis Dana, 1848, from the Tuamotu Islands, D. coccinea Gray, 1860, from New Caledonia, D. fulvacea Michelin, 1862, from R\xc3\xa9union, D. nitida Verrill, 1864, from the Marshall Islands, D. rosea Kent, 1871, from the East coast of Australia, D. purpurea Schmeltz, 1875 (nomen nudum), from the Marshall Islands (?), D. irregularis Moseley, 1879, from the Philippine Islands, D. livida Tenison-Woods, 1879, from the Solomon Islands, D. brasseyi Wright, 1882, from the Gilbert Islands, D. allnutti Wright, 1882, from the Gilbert Islands (?), D. breviserialis Quelch, 1884, from unknown locality, D. milesii Quelch, 1884, from the Pacific (probably from the region of the Society and Tuamotu Islands), D. granulosa Quelch, 1885, from Rarotonga (?), D. conferta Quelch, 1885, from Rarotonga, D. ochracea Quelch, 1885, from the Solomon Islands, D. profunda Hickson & England, 1909, from the Chagos Archipelago, D. borealis Fisher, 1938, from the Aleutian Islands, D. fisheri Broch, 1942, from the Fiji Islands, and D. serpens Broch, 1942, from the Philippine Islands. Most of the described species came from shallow water, only three species were collected from great depths, viz., D. profunda (187\xe2\x80\x94274 m), D. borealis (518\xe2\x80\x94881 m), and D. serpens (91\xe2\x80\x94183 m). The type specimen of D. irregularis came from a depth of 10 fathoms (18 m).\nTo the species enumerated above should be added D. providentiae (Hickson & England, 1909) from off Providence Island in the Western Indian Ocean, collected at a depth of 125 fathoms (228 m). This species was originally placed in the genus Sporadopora, but the manner of arrangement of the gastropores and the dactylopores indicate that it presents at least some affinity to the genus Distichopora, and accordingly it may provisionally find a place here.

Description: The main purpose of this study is to search for an explanation of the curious differentiation within the genus Chamaeleo. Since the species of this genus are rather doubtful units, I have studied the geograpical distribution of characters, not of the species, a method first used in botany (BAUR, ROTHMALER a.o.). I found that the number of characters is largest in east Afrika, gradually decreasing from this area to the periphery of the total range of the genus. East Africa proved to be still more important, as practically all the characters occur in it. This means that the chameleons in the other areas practically never possess characters that are not found in east Africa.\nThis pattern of distribution fits in rather well with REINIG\xe2\x80\x99S elimination theory (1938): \xe2\x80\x9e.. bei Einzelwanderungen wird nur ein Teil des gesamten Allelbestandes einer Art mitgef\xc3\xbchrt... eine durch Einzelwanderung entstandene Population weist eine geringere Zahl von Allelen auf als die Ausgangspopulation.\xe2\x80\x9d The existence of many parallel series of variation (meaning that several characters originated several times independently in different groups) led me to the conclusion that the mechanism described in REINIG\xe2\x80\x99S theory as elimination, has consequences also for the genes predisposed to change into others.\nThis reasoning gave a key to the reconstruction of the ancestral chameleon. By two different ways I arrived at the same conclusion, viz. the ancestral chameleon was probably an animal resembling mostly Chamaeleo chamaeleon s.l. (\xc2\xa7 21).\nAs for this theoretical part of my study a survey of the species was needed, I first made an attempt at a natural system. I have divided the genus into groups of related species. For practical reasons the chameleons of Madagascar are treated separately. Their connections with the species of the African continent are examined in a special section (\xc2\xa7 11).\nAs a result of my investigations I had to propose the following taxonomic changes: Ch. rhinoceratus var. lineatus + Ch. labordi + Ch. voeltzkowi + Ch. barbouri = Ch. rhinoceratus (\xc2\xa7 3), Ch. lambertoni = Ch. lateralis (\xc2\xa7 4), Ch. semicristatus = \xe2\x99\x80 Ch. verrucosus (\xc2\xa7 5), Ch. guibei nov. spec. (\xc2\xa7 6), Ch. calcarifer = Ch. chamaeleon calcarifer, Ch. zeylanicus = Ch. chamaeleon zeylanicus, Ch. etiennei = Ch. gracilis etiennei (\xc2\xa7 12), Ch. anchietae vinkei + Ch. anchietae mertensi + Ch. marunguensis = Ch. anchietae (\xc2\xa7 13), Ch. unicornis = Ch. oweni unicornis (\xc2\xa7 14), Ch. pumilus = Ch. pumilus pumilus, Ch. melanocephalus = Ch. pumilus melanocephalus, Ch. gutturalis = Ch. pumilus gutturalis, Ch. ventralis = Ch. pumilus ventralis, Ch. ventralis occidentalis = Ch. pumilus occidentalis, Ch. ventralis karrooicus = Ch. pumilus karrooicus, Ch. damaranus = Ch. pumilus damaranus, Ch. caffer = Ch. pumilus caffer, Ch. taeniobronchus = Ch. pumilus taeniobronchus. (\xc2\xa7 16).

Description: The present short paper forms a continuation of my partial revision of certain species of the genus Bactra (Zool. Verhand., no. 29, 1956). It is chiefly based on a revision of the entire material of Bactra in the collection of the well-known specialist of Microlepidoptera, Dr. H. G. AMSEL, Karlsruhe, Germany; along with the new material of the genus from Irak, and that from Afghanistan, of the German Afghanistan Expedition 1956, collected by Dr. AMSEL himself and entrusted to me for identification. Besides, interesting material was received from Mr. TOSHIIO OKU, Sapporo, Japan, and from some other sources. The author gratefully acknowledges the kind help of the senders, and their permission to retain certain duplicates for the collection of the Leiden Museum.\nSince the publication of my above mentioned paper a few errors were detected and some alterations became necessary. They will be found below, together with descriptions of five new species and one subspecies, and records or notes on some 15 already known species, with five new synonyms.

Description: A review is given of the recurrent outbreaks of the tentcaterpillar, Malacosoma neustria L., affecting the elm trees in the city of Amsterdam in the period 1930\xe2\x80\x941957. An outbreak of the brown tail moth, Euproctis chrysorrhoea L., in 1935\xe2\x80\x941936 is also mentioned and some occasional loss of foliage through the caterpillars of the vapourer moth, Orgyia antiqua L.\nLarge fluctuations in the size of the Malacosoma populations were found. After some years in which the damage was negligeable, the increase always started in the N.W. part of the centre of the city. In the following years the outbreaks moved to adjacent parts of the centre and finally sometimes even to more eccentric parts (see Fig. 6\xe2\x80\x949). However, the occurrence of really harmful numbers of tentcaterpillars was mostly restricted to the centre of the town.\nThe merits of the control measures which were carried out with derris/talcum powder spread by motordusters are discussed. The insecticide was thought to be the only sufficiently harmless for its use in the centre of a city. Some cases of defoliation and other inconveniences caused by the presence of crowds of caterpillars could apparently be reduced by the control measures. In several instances, however, the efficacy of the method remained doubtful.\nThe urgency is stressed of further studies of the bionomics of Malacosoma under local conditions and some suggestions are made for a better organization of the measures applied.

Description: In most handbooks on forest entomology much stress is laid on the importance of predatory arthropods in the soil as enemies for pupating noxious insects (ESCHERICH, 1923; GRAHAM, 1939). However, detailed investigations in the field on the significance of these predators are scarce.\nIn Germany much work has been done on the biology and feeding habits of Carabus species (KERN, 1921; LENGERKEN, 1921; OERTEL, 1924; DELKESKAMP, 1930; KIRCHENER, 1927; JUNG, 1940) but these observations and experiments were mainly done under laboratory conditions. FORBES (1880, 1882) investigated the gut contents of many carabid species and concluded that about 1/3\xe2\x80\x941/4 of the food was of animal origin. VIT\xc3\x89 (1953) studied the significance of spiders in forests.

Description: A description is given of the activity of the thyroid and of the pituitary gland during the development of the gonopodium in the viviparous Cyprinodonts Lebistes reticulatus (Peters), Xiphophorus helleri (Heckel) and Xiphophorus maculatus (G\xc3\xbcnther). During this process the thyroid gland and the glandular lobe (lobus anterior and lobus intermedius) show a gradual increase in activity. This activity was in general most pronounced in Lebistes reticulatus (Peters) and weakest in Xiphophorus maculatus (G\xc3\xbcnther). This increase in activity suggests that the developement of the gonopodium is probably regulated endocrinally.\nFor the determination of the state of thyroid and pituitary activity use was made of the quotients d/n and D/n (Lever, 1948 and 1950; cf. Lever, Miltenburg and Van Oordt, 1949, and Stolk, 1951 c, 1956 g, 1957 b and 1958 b) and the quotients ch and cs (Stolk, 1954, 1955 a, 1956 a, 1956 c, 1956 d, 1956 e, 1956 f, 1957 a, 1958 a and 1958 b), respectively, and moreover of the nucleus size, the mitotic activity, the nucleus structure, the chondriome and the Golgi apparatus.

Description: The systematic position of the western hamster, Cricetus cricetus canescens, has been a subject of discussion and criticism ever since NEHRING (1899, pp. 1\xe2\x80\x942) described the hamster occurring in Belgium west of the Meuse as a separate variety. The present paper is a new effort to throw more light on the interesting question concerning the systematic characters by which the western hamster can be distinguished from the typical form described from central Germany. For a better understanding of the present study a brief survey of the main points in the historical development of this problem follows here.\nAccording to NEHRING the main characters in which his new variety, Cricetus vulgaris var. canescens, differed from the typical form, were: (1) the dark mouse-greyish colour of the dorsal surface, (2) the less intensive black colour of the ventral surface, (3) the smaller size, and (4) the presumably larger ears. It is to be noted, however, that NEHRING based his description merely on two stuffed skins from the neighbourhood of Fexhe-Slins, Belgium, which he compared with specimens from Saxony and Brandenburg.

Description: Am 5. August 1956 traf von Dr. H. Kern auf dem Schiffswege aus Djakarta eine erwachsene Netzschlange, Python reticulatus Schn., von 6.40 m L\xc3\xa4nge im Tierpark Berlin ein. In ihre Kiste hatte man f\xc3\xbcr den etwa vier Wochen dauernden Schiffstransport ein lebendes Huhn (gro\xc3\x9fer Malaiischer K\xc3\xa4mpfer) hineingesetzt, das unterwegs gefressen wurde. Reste davon \xe2\x80\x94 darunter ein Fu\xc3\x9f \xe2\x80\x94 wurden dann unvollkommen verdaut wieder erbrochen. Nach der Ankunft in Berlin brachten wir die Riesenschlange zun\xc3\xa4chst provisorisch in einem kleinen Terrarium unter. Dort nahm sie zwei mittelgro\xc3\x9fe Meerschweinchen zu sich. Mittlerweile war ein gr\xc3\xb6\xc3\x9ferer Beh\xc3\xa4lter f\xc3\xbcr das Tier fertiggestellt worden, in den die inzwischen durch die W\xc3\xa4rme der Schlangenfarm munterer gewordene Schlange umgesetzt wurde. Hier verweigerte die Schlange in der Folge jede weitere Nahrung. Es zeigte sich nunmehr \xe2\x80\x94 4 m distal von der Schnauzenspitze \xe2\x80\x94 eine abgetreppte Verschiebung (Abb. 1) der Wirbels\xc3\xa4ule, die auf einen Bruch des R\xc3\xbcckgrates schlie\xc3\x9fen lie\xc3\x9f. Die Schlange magerte in den folgenden Wochen erheblich ab, und der Bruch trat endlich so stark in Erscheinung, da\xc3\x9f der Python nicht mehr ausgestellt werden konnte. W\xc3\xa4hrend die Schlange in der ersten Zeit noch sehr aggressiv war und der vor dem Bruch liegende K\xc3\xb6rperteil immer noch hoch aufgerichtet wurde, ergriff in zunehmendem Ma\xc3\x9fe immer gr\xc3\xb6\xc3\x9fere Apathie das Tier, bis es schlie\xc3\x9flich v\xc3\xb6llig teilnahmslos herumlag. Innerhalb von vier Monaten erfolgten drei H\xc3\xa4utungen. Hinter dem Bruch schwoll der v\xc3\xb6llig gel\xc3\xa4hmte K\xc3\xb6rperabschnitt bis zum After stark an (Abb. 2). Der Schwanz blieb von der Schwellung unber\xc3\xbchrt. Der K\xc3\xb6rperumfang vor dem Bruch betrug 35 cm, hinter ihm 56 cm. Die Haut des aufgetriebenen K\xc3\xb6rperteiles war sehr m\xc3\xbcrbe und n\xc3\xa4\xc3\x9fte an verschiedenen Stellen. Am 30. November 1956 starb die Netzschlange. Der angeschwollene Teil ging nach dem Tode der Schlange sofort in F\xc3\xa4ulnis \xc3\xbcber. Im Enddarm fand sich eine riesige Menge von Harns\xc3\xa4urekristallen gespeichert, obwohl w\xc3\xa4hrend der Krankheit des Tieres wiederholt gro\xc3\x9fe Portionen von Kot manuell aus der Kloake geholt worden waren.\nDr. G. BEUTEL (Berlin-Lichtenberg) \xc3\xbcbernahm freundlicherweise das R\xc3\xb6ntgen und die entsprechende Deutung. Es stellte sich \xe2\x80\x94 wie vermutet \xe2\x80\x94 tats\xc3\xa4chlich ein Wirbels\xc3\xa4ulenbruch heraus. Der betreffende Wirbel ist stark destruiert. Hier macht die Wirbels\xc3\xa4ule einen nach rechts gerichteten Knick (Abb. 4), und beim Seitenbild erkennt man au\xc3\x9ferdem eine Versetzung der beiden Wirbels\xc3\xa4ulenabschnitte in dorsoventraler Richtung um fast die volle Wirbels\xc3\xa4ulendicke (Abb. 5). Wolkige Schattenbildungen an diesem Abschnitt d\xc3\xbcrften Callus sein. Auf der Seitenaufnahme sieht man weiterhin multiple alte und frische Rippenfrakturen, von denen die letzteren durch kr\xc3\xa4ftigen Callus bereits \xc3\xbcberbr\xc3\xbcckt werden. In H\xc3\xb6he des destruierten Wirbels sind links mehrere Rippen zu sehen, die z.T. etwas aufgetrieben sind und zentrale Aufhellungen mit exzentrischer Verd\xc3\xbcnnung der Compacta aufweisen. Hierbei d\xc3\xbcrfte es sich um Enchondrome handeln. Soweit die Tatsachen und die Befunde.