5G SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



of the organisms upon which they feed. On this account the ocean 

 currents, too, have a secondary influence on the migration and appear- 

 ance of the whale in certain regions near the coast. On the other 

 hand, the reproductive instinct has a determining influence. Gravid 

 females seek calm and shallow waters ; and mating also has been 

 observed most frequently during fine quiet weather. The subject is to 

 be continued in a second paper. 



Canadian Birds.* — John Macoun has completed Part II. of his 

 catalogue of Canadian Birds. It deals with the birds of prey, wood- 

 peckers, fly-catchers, crows, jays, and blackbirds. The catalogue includes 

 many breeding notes, and will be found of interest to British as well as 

 Canadian ornithologists. 



West Asian Reptiles and Batrachians.j — Dr. F. Werner describes a 

 list, with in some cases brief descriptions, of Reptiles from Asia Minor, 

 chiefly from the Island of Kos, and from N. Persia, collected by Prof. 

 Vosseler and J. Bornmiiller. 



Sumatra Fishes.} — Dr. W. Volz, during a stay of two and a half 

 years in S.E. Sumatra, collected much zoological material. He describes 

 in this paper the fishes, amongst which there is one new genus Trypano- 

 cheno})sis, nine hitherto undescribed species, and nineteen new to the 

 fauna of Sumatra. 



Sumatra Lizards.§ — Dr. W. Volz enumerates with brief notes, sixteen 

 species of lizards from Palembang, a place seldom visited by zoologists. 



c. General. 



Digestive Ferments in Cephalopods, Echinoderme, and Tunicates.|| 

 Y. Henri finds that hepatic juice from Octopus and Sepia is rich in 

 amylase and proteolytic ferment. It digests albumin of cooked egg, 

 fibrin, and gelatin. The product of the salivary glands is not specially 

 digestive, but its injection in small quantities into crayfish and crabs 

 causes paralysis. There is a little amylase in the blood and much in the 

 kidney. 



The caecum upon the intestine of Spatangus has glandular walls and 

 contains a yellowish-brown feebly acid liquid, which has a notable 

 quantity of amylase and exhibits the same digestive action as the 

 hepatic fluid of Cephalopods. The perivascular liquid contains a little 

 amylase, but has no proteolytic ferment. 



Macerations of the pyloric gland of Salpa yielded a liquid rich in 

 amylase, but it did not digest the substances mentioned above, though it 

 had a feeble effect on glycerin. The gland contains many digestive 

 ferments. Maceration-fluids from other parts gave no result. 



Lake Survey. H — D. J. Scourfield writes a short paper advocating the 

 scientific investigation of lakes, not only because it is desirable to have 



* Geol. Survey cf Canada, Ottawa, 1903, pp. 219-413. 



t Zool. Jahrb., xix. (1903) pp. 329-4G. 



X Tom. cit., pp. 347-420 (2 pis.). § Tom. cit., pp. 421-30. 



|| Comptes Rondus, cxxxvii. (1903) pp. 7G3-5. 



«[f Proc. South London Entom.and Nat. Hist. Soc, 1902 (published 1903), pp. Gl-C. 



