FRESH FACTS. 



Partial and Total Conjugation. Hans Wallengrex. " Ueber die 

 totale Konjugation bei Vorticellina," Biol. Centralbl. xix. 1899, pp. 153-161, 

 3 figs. In Epistylis simulans and other vorticellids the process of "total con- 

 jugation " is not strictly total ; the nuclei and most of the endoplasmic material 

 of the microgonidium pass into the macrogonidium, but a shrivelled residue is 

 left, — not quite dead, but fatally injured. So that the difference between total 

 and partial conjugation is one of degree. 



The Crop of Birds. Gust. Swenander. "Beitrage zur Kenntnis des 

 Kropfes der Vogel," Zool. Anzeig. xxii. 1899, pp. 140-142, 4 figs. In this pre- 

 liminary communication the author distinguishes four types of crop, — of 

 Pigeons, of Raptores, of Rasores, and of Fringillidae and some aquatic birds. 



Chambered Stomach in a Monkey. A. Pilliet and R. Boulart. 

 " Note sur l'estomac compose du Semnopitheque," Comptes Rendus Soc. Biol., 

 Paris, v. 1898, pp. 216, 217. The authors have elaborated Owen's account of 

 the complex stomach of Semnoijithecus nomaeus, which is so strongly suggestive 

 of that of ruminants. A large cardiac portion, like a paunch, with numerous 

 internal papillae, leads into a median portion with numerous side reservoirs, and 

 beyond this there is a ridged cylindrical pyloric portion with two fibrous bands. 

 The first portion is a storage area, the second, portion is a true stomach, the 

 third portion is divided by a groove from the oesophagus into two areas, of 

 which that above the groove is oesophageal in character, while that beneath 

 resembles the second portion. It is an interesting case of convergence. 



Comparative Embryology of Thymus. F. Maurer. "Die Schilddriise, 

 Thymus und andere Schlundspaltenderivate bei der Eidechse," Morph. Jahrb. 

 xxvii. 1899, pp. 119-172, 3 pis. 4 figs. In connection with gill-clefts, two sets 

 of organs must be distinguished : — (a) Those which appeared in forms in which 

 there was an open and functional gill-cleft system (thyroid, thymus, and post- 

 branchial bodies), and (b) those which appeared only after the obliteration of 

 branchial respiration (epithelial corpuscles and carotid gland). The organs of 

 the first set develop in the lizard in a manner essentially the same as in 

 Anamnia ; the detailed differences are shown in comparative figures. 



Pulmonary Ganglia. A. E. Mettam. "On the presence of ganglia upon 

 the pulmonary nerves " (a preliminary note), Proc. Scottish Micr. Soc. ii. 1898, 

 pp. 195-203. The author calls attention to the relative abundance of ganglion 

 cells in connection with the pulmonary nerves in the lungs of certain domesti- 

 cated animals, e.g. sheep, during foetal life ; and suggests that they may act as 

 local respiratory centres until the reflexes are fully established. 



Temperature and Regeneration. Florence Peebles. "The effect of 

 temperature on the regeneration of Hydra," Zool. Bulletin, ii. pp. 1899, 125-128. 

 The author shows that the rate of regeneration in Hydra grisea and H. viridis 

 varies with the temperature, the optimum being between 30° and 38° C. 



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