712 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



occasionally grow entirely around it instead of passing to one side. The 

 fact that in the case recorded and figured, the right superior gluteal 

 artery arises from the internal iliac much farther forward than is usual, 

 and so comes to be directly in the course of the right common iliac vein, 

 would seem to bear out this suggestion. 



Albinism in Birds and Mammals.*- — T. Bezier discusses cases of 

 albino rooks, magpies, swallows, thrushes, shrews, &c. ; he finds that 

 out of 18 cases of "birds, nine were complete albinos and nine incomplete, 

 while out of 7 cases of Mammals, six were complete albinos and one 

 incomplete. 



Adaptations to Molluscivorous Diet in Varanus niloticus.f — 

 Einar Lonnberg finds that this lizard in Kameroon feeds to a great 

 extent on land-molluscs, dropping or shaking off the fragments of shell 

 before it swallows the animal. The development of the powerful jaws 

 and large molars of this species is interpreted as a special adaptation to 

 the habit of devouring large and hard-shelled snails. This is illustrated 

 in detail by comparing the skulls of V. niloticus with V. salvator. Some 

 adaptations in the alimentary tract are also recorded. Whether the 

 Lamarckian or the selectionist interpretation be accepted, the indisput- 

 able fact remains that we have in this snail-eating lizard a remarkable 

 adaptation to a peculiar diet. 



Structure of Gecko's Toes. J— Julius Tandler notes that the numer- 

 ous investigations on this subject have been confined to the structure 

 of the cutis and epidermis, without attention to the skeletal parts, the 

 musculature, and the vascular arrangements. He has filled this gap 

 by his studies on Ptyodactylus hiatus and Platydactylus annularis, and 

 shows in particular that the remarkable powers of adhesion which the 

 Geckos display become more intelligible when the muscular and vascular 

 details are carefully considered. Apart from the adhesion of the fine 

 lamella?, there is a vacuum-action due to the remarkable muscular and 

 vascular arrangements. But it is not easy to state very briefly how 

 these arrangements work. 



Muscles of Mastication in LacertiliaJ — 0. Chamock Bradley has 

 given bis attention to a subject in regard to which but little has hitherto 

 been known, the muscles of mastication and the movement of the skull 

 associated with the act of mastication in lizards. His studies were 

 chiefly based on Varanus bivittatus, but the musculature in other forms 

 is also referred to. Some of the comparisons bring out facts of special 

 interest, e.g. the absence of the deep-seated muscles of mastication in 

 the Chamgeleon. 



Phytogeny of Chelonians.|| — Louis Dollo describes a new Eocene 

 tortoise — Eochelone brabantica n. g. et sp— a type of much systematic 

 interest. The position and structure of its choanse explain the origin of 



* Trav. Sei. Univ. Rennes, i. (1902) pp. 191-4. 



t Arkiv. Zool. Svensk. Vetenskapsacad., i. (1903) pp. 65-83(5 figs.). 



% Zeit^cbr. Wiss. Zool., lxxv. (1903, pp. 308-26 (2 pis.). 



§ Zool. Jahrb., xviii. (1903) pp. 475-88 (1 pi.). 



|| Bull. Sci. Acad. Roy. Belgique, No. 8 (1903) pp. 792-801. 



