294 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



many different forms of mutilation. His results are remarkable, but 

 he has not as yet formulated any general conclusions. 



Spermatozoa of Lamprey.* — E. Ballowitz describes the structure of 

 the spermatozoon in Petromyzon fluviatilis, and especially the unique 

 feature, an extremely delicate and long thread (" Ko-pfborste ") which 

 arises from the apex of the head. Its morphological character and 

 functional import remain undiscovered. 



Function of Interstitial Gland of Testis.f— D. N. Voinov finds 

 that the testes of the adult cock are toxic for animals of the same and 

 different species independently of sex. The genital toxins introduced 

 into the blood produce respiratory, circulatory, and motor troubles, the 

 gravity of which is proportional to the dose ; large injections causing 

 death. This toxicity is unrelated to sexual activity, for the effects of the 

 testes of both adult and young animals are the same in degree. These 

 effects are traceable to the interstitial gland, which absorbs the toxins 

 of the blood, preventing them from reaching the seminal elements. 



Shifting of Pectoral Fin during Development.:}:— H. H. Swinnerton 

 has studied the relative positions of the pectoral fin in an extensive 

 series of stages of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterostens acuJeatns). 

 The glenoid border tends to rotate from a horizontal to a vertical 

 position during development. The immediate cause of the shifting of 

 the fin is to be found in the fact that the coraco-scapular plate is at first 

 a very insignificant portion of the pectoral skeleton, but as development 

 advances it broadens out antero-posteriorly. In view of the phylogenetic 

 shifting forwards of the pelvic fin in Teleosts, it would be instructive to 

 ascertain if there is a corresponding phylogenetic shifting back of the 

 pectoral fin. 



Influence of Castration on Size.§ — E. Pittard submits statistics 

 which lead him to conclude that castration results in an increase of the 

 absolute size in human groups, that the bust contributes very much less 

 than the legs to the exaggerated development — in fact, there is a rela- 

 tive diminution in the development of the bust and a relatively large 

 increase in the legs. 



Development of Vascular System of Ceratodus.|| — W. E. Kellicott 

 gives a summary of the chief results of his study of the development of 

 the vascular system in Ceratodus ; the general conclusion is that the 

 resemblances in the vascular (and respiratory) systems between this most 

 primitive representative of the extant Dipnoi and the Amphibia, espe- 

 cially the Urodela, are numerous and fundamental, and cannot be ex- 

 plained as parallelisms. 



Studies in Bone Development.! — H. Meyburg has investigated 

 certain points in the development of bone, particularly the stage de- 

 scribed by Gebhardt as " in toto konzentrischen Struktur." Succeeding 



* Arch. Mikr. Anat., lxv. (1904) pp. 96-120 (1 pi.), 

 t Arch. Zool. Exp., iii. (1905) Notes et Revue, pp. lxxxi.-xcii. 

 X Aim. Nat. Hist., xv. (1905) pp. 319-21 (4 figs.). 

 § Comptes Rendus, exxxix. (1904) pp. 571-3. 

 || Anat. Anzeig., xxvi. (1905) pp. 200 -S (2 figs.). 

 1 Arch. Mikr. Anat., lxiv. (1904) pp. 627-52. 



