30G ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



that their brains were somewhat convoluted. This is a very- 

 full confirmation of the anticipation by inference above men- 

 tioned. It was then stated that the primitive Ungulate " can 

 not be far removed from the primitive Carnivore and the 

 primitive Quadrumane." Two other genera discovered by- 

 Professor Cope show that great variations in the number of 

 the front teeth exist in these animals, some having one, and 

 some two pairs of incisors, etc. 



THE CELL-STRUCTURE OF ORGANIC TISSUES. 



Professor Redfern, at the late meeting of the British As- 

 sociation, called attention to the changes that have taken 

 place in the views of scientific men in regard to the cell- 

 structure of organic tissues since the days of Schleiden and 

 Schwann. At that time the separation of groups of cells by 

 a basement membrane was considered to be an important 

 physiological condition ; such groups, retaining individuality, 

 carry on their life, and even pass into such diseased conditions 

 as cancer, without influencing or being influenced by neigh- 

 boring structures. Now all is changed, and the idea of a 

 cell as a vesicle has given place to that of a solid corpuscle. 

 Graham has taught that all the tissues are permeable, and 

 continually permeated by fluids carrying nutrient material ; 

 and we more lately learn that the living corpuscles can wan- 

 der out of their positions of attachment, enter the blood cur- 

 rent, and again pass from the blood-vessel through its soft 

 and viscid wall. There indeed seems to be evidence that 

 the finest filaments of nerves end in the living corpuscles or 

 cells, especially in the olfactory and gustatory cells, and the 

 skins of fishes. According to Professor Redfern, the state- 

 ment of Pfltiger that the nerves terminate in the cells of the 

 salivary and pancreatic glands, although probable, has not 

 yet been positively established. 15 A, August 29, 1874,279. 



RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF INTRODUCED ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 



It is well known that certain plants, when grown in new 

 countries, exhibit a remarkable development vastly exceed- 

 ing that which takes place in their native soil. This is evi- 

 denced in the character of eastern vegetables when grown in 

 California, of which such marvelous tales are sometimes re- 

 lated. The same thing appears to exist in a greater or less 



