[131] The contents of the Malpighian tubules may be examined by crushing the part in a drop of dilute acetic acid, or in dilute sulphuric acid (10 per cent.). In the first case a cover-slip is placed on the fluid, and the crystals, which consist of oblique rhombohedrons, or derived forms, are usually at once apparent. If sulphuric acid is used, the fluid must be allowed to evaporate. In this case they are much more elongated, and usually clustered. The murexide reaction does not give satisfactory indications with the tubules of the Cockroach. The Malpighian tubules develop as diverticula from the proctodæum, which is an invagination of the outer integument and its morphological equivalent. They are, therefore, similar in origin to urinary organs opening upon the surface of the body and developed as invaginations of the integument, like the “shell-glands” of lower Crustacea, and the “green glands” of Decapod Crustacea. The segmental organs of _Peripatus_, Annelids, and Vertebrates do not appear to be possible equivalents of the excretory organs of Arthropods. They arise, not as involutions, but as solid masses of mesoblastic tissue, or as channels constricted off from the peritoneal cavity, and their ducts have only a secondary connection with the outside of the body or with the alimentary canal. _Digestion of Insects._ The investigation of the digestive processes in Insects is work of extreme difficulty, and it is not surprising that much yet remains to be discovered. Plateau has, however, succeeded in solving some of the more important questions, which, before his time, had been dealt with in an incomplete or otherwise unsatisfactory way. The experiments of Basch, though now superseded by Plateau’s more trustworthy results, deserve notice as first attempts to investigate the properties of the digestive fluids of Insects. Basch set out with a conviction that where a chitinous lining is present, the epithelium of the alimentary canal secretes chitin only, and that proper digestive juices are only elaborated in the chylific stomach, or in the salivary glands. The tests applied by him seemed to show that the saliva, as well as the contents of the œsophagus and crop, had an acid reaction, while the contents of the chylific stomach were neutral at the beginning of the tube and alkaline further down. From this he concluded that the supposed deep-seated glands of the chylific stomach secreted an alkaline fluid, which neutralised the acidity of the saliva. Finding that the epithelial cells of the stomach were often loaded with oil-drops, he concluded that absorption, at least of fats, takes place here. The chylific stomach, carefully emptied of its contents, was found to convert starch into sugar at ordinary temperatures. The saliva of the Cockroach gave a similar result, and when a weak solution of hydrochloric acid was added, Basch thought that the mixture could digest blood-fibrin at ordinary temperatures.