400 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Thomson has described " The Morphology of the Prosen- 

 cephalon of Spinax as a Type of Elasmobranch Fore-Brain " 

 {Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. lii, Pt. II, April 1919). The diffi- 

 culty of this subject is greatly increased by the terminology 

 employed by different workers, and, as the author points out, 

 when in the case of one area five different terms have been 

 employed, it seems time that some clearing up of useless 

 terms was carried out. The present paper is divided into 

 two portions : one deals with the grey matter, in which five 

 areas of grey cells are recognised, and the other treats of the 

 fibre tracts, fourteen in number, and there is also a mention of 

 four fibre complexes. 



Other papers include : 



Woodward, " On Two New Elasmobranch Fishes {Crossorhinus jurassicus , 

 sp. nov., and Protospinax annectens) from the Upper Jurassic Lithographic Stone 

 of Bavaria" {Proc. Zool. Soc, Pts. Ill and IV, March 1919) ; and Boulenger, 

 " On the Madagascar Frogs of the Genus Mantidactylus Blgr." {ibid.). 



A useful " Review of the Reptilian Fauna of the Karroo 

 System of South Africa" is furnished by Haughton (Trans. 

 Geol. Soc. of S. Africa, vol. xxii, 1919). This commences with 

 a general account of the skull of the reptilia found as fossils in 

 South Africa, the classification of the forms, and then a general 

 discussion of the various series of specimens that have been 

 obtained. It ends with an account of the interrelationships 

 of the various forms. Watson writes fully " On Seymouria, 

 the most Primitive known Reptile " (Proc. Zool. Soc, Pts. Ill 

 and IV, March 1919). By means of further preparation of the 

 type material in Munich and from material gathered by him- 

 self in Texas, the author has been able to make considerable 

 addition to our knowledge of Seymouria. A full description 

 of the skeleton is given, which together with what has been 

 previously written makes the skeleton of this form almost as 

 well known as that of any other reptile. The description is 

 followed by a discussion of the relationship of the animal with 

 the Temnospondyli and Reptilia. It is beyond doubt a form 

 intermediate between Amphibia and Reptilia, and the author 

 concludes : " I hope this study of Seymouria will be regarded 

 as placing beyond dispute the origin of the reptiles from the 

 Embolomerous Labyrinthodonts." 



Other papers include : 



Petronievics, " Comparison between the Lower Jaws of the Cynodont Reptiles 

 Gomphognathus and Cynognat/ius" {Proc. Zool. Soc, Pts. Ill and IV, March 

 1919) ; Taylor, "A Case of Hermaphroditism in a Lizard, Lacerta viridis " {ibid.) ; 

 and O'Donoghue and Gowanlock, " Notes on the Caspian Tern {Sterna caspia) 

 and the Parasitic Jaeger {Stercorarius parasiticus) in Manitoba " {Canadian Field 

 Nat., vol. xxxiii, April 1919). 



