ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 637 



The author remarks, after criticising the proposed scheme, that, 

 " Zoology as a science commenced with the doctrine of evolution, a 

 generalisation of facts. Species in the older sense are not, but the 

 meaning of the term is clear to all. It is not unscientific to call each 

 twig of our tree by a separate name. In nature each twig is different 

 from its neighbour, and is many times reduplicated. Each replica 

 varies somewhat, but the main characters of the twig are repeated in 

 all. New twigs may perhaps be formed by the splitting of old twigs, 

 but the more general method — certainly in corals — is by the bursting of 

 buds." 



Physical Coloration.* — H. Mandoul discusses the iridescent colora- 

 tion of shells, fish-scales, insects' wings, birds' feathers, &c. Gadow, 

 Krukenberg, and others attribute the colours to dispersion phenomena 

 (caused by prisms or fine lines) ; Briicke and others have referred them 

 to the action of fine lamellae ; but neither interpretation has been 

 proved. Careful investigation has led Mandoul to the conclusion that 

 the colours are due to interference phenomena caused by delicate 

 lamellae. 



Copper in the Animal Org-anism.f — R. Dubois has examined about 

 a score of types, and finds a general occurrence of copper, as in plants. 

 It occurs in terrestrial, fresh-water, and marine forms, in very varied 

 proportions even in the same species. Fishes contain less than Inverte- 

 brates, and the latter have much more than the higher Vertebrates. The 

 proportions in different parts of the same animal differ greatly, thus the 

 muscles of Palinurus vulgaris only contain 4^ mgrm. in 100 grm., the 

 blood has 23 mgrm. in 100 grm., and the eggs show no trace. The 

 absence of copper in the eggs of Palinurus shows that this element is 

 not essential to the development of the animal, as its abundance in the 

 adult might suggest. » 



Lesion of the Semicircular Canals.} — L. Boutan has made experi- 

 ments on pigeons and concludes that the destruction of the membranous 

 canals implies at once a temporary excitation and a paralysis of the 

 organ. Immediately after the operation, the bird experiences false 

 sensations of rotation, due to the section of the sensory nerves, and at 

 the same time, as the result of the definitive paralysis of the organ, it 

 is incapable of adjusting the movements of rotation which it actually 

 exhibits. Thus when it is forced to walk, it turns and tumbles on the 

 injured side. 



Brain of Macroscelides proboscideus. § — G. Elliot Smith gives a 

 brief description of the brain of this Insectivore, and shows that Parker's 

 remark concerning the skeleton, that " we have a curious mixture of 

 marsupial (metatherian) and eutherian characters," might with equal 

 truth be applied to the brain. 



Anatomy of Giant Salamander of Japan. ||— Gakutaro Osawa gives 

 a detailed account of the skeletal, muscular, nervous, and vascular system 

 of Cryptdbranchus japonicus, the giant salamander of Japan. 



* Comptes Rendus, cxxxv. (1902) pp. 65-6. 



t Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, xlvii. (1901) pp. 93-7. 



X Comptes Rendus, cxxxiv. (1902) pp. 1601-3. 



§ Journ. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), xxviii. (1902) pp. 443-8 (2 figs.). 



|| MT. Med. Fac. Univ. Tokio, v. (1902) pp. 221-427 (44 ph.). 



