SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES 



RELATING TO 



ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY 



(PRINCIPALLY INVERTEBRATA AND CRYPTOGAMIA), 



MICROSCOPY, Etc.* 



ZOOLOGY. 

 VERTEBRATA. 



a. Embryology. t 



Removal and Transplantation of Ovaries.^ — F- H. A. Marshall and 

 W. A. Jolly have previously adduced evidence in support of the view 

 that heat and menstruation are iuducecl either directly or indirectly 

 through the activity of an internal secretion or hormone arising in the 

 ovaries, and that the corpus luteum provides a secretion which assists in 

 the nourishment of the embryo during the first stages of pregnancy. In 

 the present paper the investigators show that the existence of ovarian 

 tissue is an essential factor in normal uterine nutrition ; and further, 

 that the nature of the ovarian influence upon the uterus is chemical 

 rather than nervous, since the transplanted ovaries (in rats), while still 

 maintaining their functions (at least, in many cases), had lost their 

 normal nervous connections. It is extremely probable, therefore, that 

 the uterus is dependent for its proper nutrition upon substances secreted 

 by the ovaries, not merely at the heat periods and during pregnancy, 

 when they show their greatest activity, but throughout the whole of the 

 cestrous cycle. 



Inheritance of Pigmentation in Mice.§ — L. Cuenot continues his 

 important investigations on the inheritance of pigmentation in mice, all 

 of which go to show the general occurrence of Mendelian phenomena. 

 In fact, all the determinants known in mice conform strictly to Mendelian 

 rules. " On ne connait chez les souris que des caracteres mendeliens." 



* The Society are not intended to be denoted by the editorial " we," and they 

 do not hold themselves responsible for the views of the authors of the papers 

 noted, nor for any claim to novelty or otherwise made by them. The object of 

 this part of the Journal is to present a summary of the papers as actually pub- 

 lished, and to escribe and illustrate Instruments, Apparatus, etc., which are 

 either new or ave not been previously described in this country. 



f This section includes not only papers relating to Embryology properly so 

 called, but also those dealing with Evolution, Development, Reproduction, and 

 allied subjects. 



X Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, xlv. (1907) pp. 589-99 (2 pis.). 



§ Arch. Zool. Exper., vi. (1907) Notes et Revue, No. 1, pp. i-xiii. 



