680 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



on the sperms of other animals would lead to the assumption that it is 

 to be regarded as the idiosome corpuscle of the human sperm, and not 

 as, according to Eimer, a remnant of the nuclear corpuscle of the 

 spermatid nucleus. 



Development of Islands of Langerhans in Human Embryo.* — H. 

 Kiister rinds that these appear even in the early embryonic stages as 

 anatomically differentiated formations in the pancreas. They arise as a 

 budding upon the glandular ducts, and early show three marked charac- 

 teristics : (1) the nuclei lie centrally, the cytoplasm towards the outside; 

 (2) the cells are arranged in columns ; (3) there are intimate relations 

 with the capillaries. The separation of the islands from the gland ducts 

 takes place very early ; their growth ceases towards the end of fcetal life, 

 and from that time onward they remain throughout life unaltered in 

 structure and in size. 



Development of Megalobatrachus maximus.f — L. P. de Bussy 

 gives a full account of the cleavage and early stages in the development 

 of this giant salamander, and compares his results with those obtained 

 in reference to other Amphibians, Dipnoi, " Ganoids," and the lamprey. 



b. Histology. 



Morphology and Biology of the Cell.J — A. Gurwitsch has produced 

 an introductory work on the cell. It is divided into four parts : 

 (1) Statics and dynamics of the cell ; (2) the metabolism and functions 

 of the cell ; (3) the multiplication of the cell ; and (4) the cell as 

 " organism " and " individual." 



Spiral Coiling of Nucleus of Smooth Muscle Cells.§ — G. Schlater 

 agrees with E. Forster that the nucleus of the smooth muscle cell may 

 show manifold twists and bends, but thinks that Forster exaggerated 

 the importance of spiral coiling. He entirely rejects the idea that the 

 heart- fibres and other fibres in Amphibians contract by spiral coiling. 

 The view that the spiral nucleus of the smooth muscle cell coils passively 

 when the cell contracts, must be corrected by a recognition of the 

 autonomy and independence of nuclear form-changes. 



Experimental Phagocytosis.! — L. Mercier has experimented with 

 the frog, introducing fragments of tadpoles (muscle fibres and epithelial 

 cells) into the dorsal lymphatic sacs, and lias had the satisfaction of 

 entirely confirming Metchnikoff's description of phagocytosis. 



Cell Migration in Caecum and Mid-gut of Amphioxus.f— Boris 

 Zarnik describes remarkable changes in the liver (caecum) and mid-gut 

 of Amphioxus (10-22 mm.) during the growing period. The normal 

 lining of the caecum and mid-gut is a high cylindrical epithelium, on 



* Arch. Mikr. Anat., Bd. 64 (1904) pp. 158-72 (1 pi.). 



t Tijdsehr. Nederland. Dierk. Ver., viii. (1904) pp. 267-378 (10 pis.). 



t Morphologie uud BiologiederZelle. 8vo(Jena,1905) xix. and 437 pp., 239 figs. 



§ Anat. Anzeig., xxvii. (1905) pp. 337-45 (5 figs.). 



II Arch. Zool. Exper., iii. (1905) Notes et Revue, No. 8, pp. cxcix.-cciv. (5 figs.). 



f Anat. Anzeig., xxvii. (1905) pp. 433-49 (figs.). 



