Iuj LI8RARY ^ 



FRESH FACTS. 



A Strange Tail. Gustav Tornier. " Ein Eidechsenschwanz mit Saug- 

 scheibe," Biol. Centralbl. xix. 1899, pp. 549-552, 3 figs. The end of the 

 tail of the lizard Lygodactylus pictitratus is unique. It bears twenty attaching 

 plaits in two rows, which form an effective sucker on the vacuum principle. 

 The fingers and toes bear similar plaits, but each has only half as many plaits 

 as the tail. The strange tail is an adaptation for clambering on the smooth 

 surfaces of bananas and candelabra Euphorbias. 



Fauna of Frog Spawn. Carl Thon. " Einige Beobachtungen fiber 

 die Fauna, welche sich im Froschlaich aufhalt," Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, xlix. 

 1899, pp. 391-393. In ponds from two different localities in Bohemia, Thon 

 found that the spawn of Rana fusca and R. esculenta had associated with it an 

 almost identical set of small animals. A few days after hatching, small 

 Dyticidae, e.g., Hydroporus, made their appearance, but were not seen to injure 

 the eggs ; then water-mites, e.g., Eylais setosa ; then Entomostraca, e.g., species 

 of Cyclops, Chydorus, and Cypris, some of which helped to loosen the jelly. 

 After hatching, many insect larvae appeared, e.g., of Clo'eon dipterum, Geratopjogon, 

 Ghironomus, Perla, Limnophilus, some of which devoured the young tadpoles 

 greedily. Below the spawn lay Asellus aquaticus back downwards ; nymphs 

 of Curvipes, etc., were also abundant. Among the tadpoles, but hardly dis- 

 tinguishable because of their dark colour, were individuals of Polycelis nigra. 

 After the empty spheres sank to the bottom, some encysted Vorticellids, many 

 monads and diatoms, some statoblasts and ephippia were found amongst the 

 jelly, but no infusorians or rotifers. Some of the associates loosen the jelly, 

 others effect its further dissolution ; others, again, make war with the tadpoles, 

 but the protective value of the jelly is corroborated. 



Branchial Respiration in Millipedes. M. Causard. " Sur la respira- 

 tion branchiate chez les Diplopodes," Gomptes Rendtis Acad. Sci. Paris, cxxix. 

 1899, pp. 237-239. The observer found Brachydesmus superus in a brook 

 under submerged stones, and was interested to notice that it evaginated two 

 transparent ampullae from the rectum. He put Polydesmus gallicus in water, 

 and observed the same phenomenon, and he succeeded again with a species of 

 lulus, so that the occurrence is probably not infrequent. The ampullae are 

 formed from a protrusible rectal pouch, hitherto unobserved, and as they show 

 tracheae and blood-currents, Causard does not hesitate to speak of a branchial 

 respiration. 



A Reducing Ferment in the Animal Organism. E. Abelous and E. 

 Gerard. " Sur la presence, clans l'organisme animal, d' un ferment soluble 

 reducteur. Pouvoir reducteur des extraits d'organes," Co?uptes Rendus Acad. 

 Sci. Paris, cxxix. 1899, pp. 164-166. In extract of horse's kidney a soluble 

 ferment was found which reduced potassium and ammonium nitrates, de- 

 colorised methylene blue, and seemed to form butyric aldehyde from butyric acid. 



Breeding Habits of a Tree-Frog. J. S. Budgett. "Notes on the 

 Batrachians of the Paraguayan Chaco, with observations upon their breeding 

 habits and development, especially with regard to Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis, 

 Cope; also a description of a new genus," Qtcart. Journ. 2Iicr. Sci. xlii. 1899, 

 pp. 305-333, 5 pis. .The author observed a female of Phyllomedusa hypo- 

 chondrialis, with a male upon her back, wandering about in search of a leaf 

 whereon to lay her eggs. " At last the female, climbing up the stem of a plant 



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