340 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Heart of Reptiles. — Edwin S. Goodrich {Journ. Anat., 1919, 

 53, 298-304, 5 figs). There is in the ventricle of all living reptiles a 

 muscular septum attached to the ventral wall, and passing forwards 

 between the left auriculo- ventricular opening and the ostium of the 

 pulmonary artery. Uorsally and to the left of this septum is the cavum 

 arteriosum, while on the right the dorsal cavum venosum passes 

 ventrally round the free edge of the septum to the cavum pulmonale. 

 Muscular strands from the base of the septum to the dorsal wall of the 

 ventricle separate incipient left from incipient right chambers. In the 

 Crocodilia these strands form a wall, which, together with the septum, 

 unite with the endocardial cushion of the interauricular septum and 

 complete the division of the cavity into a left ventricle corresponding 

 to the cavum arteriosum, and a right ventricle corresponding to the 

 cavum venosum and cavum pulmonale. The left ventricle leads to the 

 right aortic arch and the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery and 

 the left aortic arch. Whereas in the Chelonia, as in the Crocodilia, the 

 left arch receives most of its blood from the cavum pulmonale, in the 

 Lacertilia and Ophidia it opens more dorsally so as to receive arterial 

 blood as well. J. A. T. 



Two Unusual Blood Vessels in Tree-Frog. — W. B. Benham 

 {Trans. Neiv Zealand Inst., 1919, 51, 30-4, 2 figs.). An interesting 

 persistence of the third branchial aortic arch is recorded in Hyla aurea. 

 It had no connexion with the dorsal aorta or with the systemic arch, 

 but bends round into the cutaneous artery, which has a very slender 

 union with the parent fourth arch. This raises the question whether 

 the cutaneous artery is not originally derived from the third arch. A 

 second anomaly in the same species is described, namely, paired lateral 

 abdominal veins — an interesting persistence of a larval condition, though 

 with certain differences in detail. J. A. T. 



Brain and Cranial Nerves of Dogfishes. — G. L. Purser {Proc. 

 R. Phijs. Soc. Edinburgh, 1919, 20, 183-92, 6 pis., 2 figs.). A careful 

 account is given of the brain and spinal cord of Acatithias vulgaris 

 Risso, in comparison with those of Galeorhinus galeus (Linn.) and of 

 Pristiurus melanostomus Gunther, and of Scyllium in part. J. A. T. 



Organs of Internal Secretion in Fishes. — J. Nusbaum-Hilarowicz 

 {Anat. Anzeiger, 1916, 41, 1-13, 6 figs.). In some deep-sea Teleosteans 

 (Argyropelecus, Gonostoma, Stomias, Sternoptyx) the author finds what 

 he regards as organs of internal secretion., In Argyropelecus and 

 Gonostoma the anterior and median portions of the kidneys enclose a 

 band of compact polyhedral glandular cells separated by capillaries. 

 In Stomias there is a sub-ffisophageal organ of internal secretion, com- 

 posed by epithelial bands and tubes. Moreover, the author maintains 

 that the luminescent organs of abyssal fishes form a secretion which is 

 passed into the blood. They are to be regarded as in part at least 

 endocrine organs. J. A. T. 



Myology of Shoulder-girdle and Pectoral Fin in Fishes. — E. W. 

 Shann {Trans. R. Soc. Edinhurgh, 1919, 52, 521-70, 4 pis.). A score 



