ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICltOSCOPY, ETC. 707 



Pecten in Bird's Eye.* — V. Fratiz publishes a note ou discoveries 

 made in regard to the pecten in the course of his study of the bird's 

 eve. The pecten is not a derivative of the choroid, but, with the excep- 

 tion of the vessels which arise from the ophthalmic artery, it consists 

 entirely of nervous tissue, and is derived from the optic nerve. Even 

 the walls of the vessels are, with the exception of the endothelium, of 

 nervous origin. On its surface the pecten bears sensory hairs and sen- 

 sory papillae. It is, therefore, an intra-ocular sense-organ, and all the 

 peculiarities of its structure, macroscopical and microscopical, indicate 

 that it serves for the perception of the intra-ocular fluctuations of pres- 

 sure which arise from the movements of the lens in accommodation. 

 It is highly probable that the distant objects seen are more clearly 

 perceived by its means. 



New Jerboa from China.f — Oldfield Thomas describes a three-toed 

 species of jerboa from Shensi, China. The only jerboa hitherto known 

 from China has been the five-toed Allactaga mongolica Radde, and the 

 finding of this species greatly enlarges the known range of the three- 

 toed jerboas, which had hitherto not been recorded east of Central Asia. 

 The species in question is a distinct form, closely related to Dipus 

 sagitta and its ally D. deasyi, but considerably larger than these species. 

 The author fully describes the new species, to which he gives the name 

 D. soicerbyi, in honour of its discoverer. 



Experiment with the Oviduct of the Hen. J — R. Pearl and F. M. 

 Surface describe one of a series of experiments being carried on with a 

 view to gaining more complete and definite information concerning the 

 functions and normal physiological activity of the different parts of the 

 oviduct in the hen. A relatively. large portion of the glandular, albumen- 

 secreting portion of the oviduct — actively functioning, and therefore 

 highly vascular — was removed, and a perfect end-to-end anastomosis, 

 without loss of function, was obtained. The first egg laid after the 

 operation was slightly abnormal in shape, but all subsequent eggs were 

 normal both as to form and contents, though they were slightly smaller 

 than the average for the same breed. 



Asiatic Red-bellied Newt.§ — E. R. Waite writes a note on the 

 breeding habits of the Red-bellied Newt (Molge, pyrrhogastra), which 

 he succeeded in inducing to breed in captivity. It does not appear to 

 differ markedly from the European M. cristata. The first eggs were 

 laid in October, and incubation, in water, at a temperature of 55-6;")° F., 

 took sixty days. Various plants were kept in the tank, but Vail is iter in 

 was always the one selected to receive the eggs. A floating portion of 

 a terminal leaf was folded over on itself, the single egg being glued 

 within it. If removed from the plant the egg sinks, but develops 

 normally at the bottom of the tank. The Larvae grow rapidly after 

 hatching, but will probably require years to mature, as do those of 

 M. cristata. 



* Biol. Centralbl., xxviii. (1908) pp. 449-67 (24 figs.), 

 t Ann. Nat. Hist., ii. (1908) pp. 307-8. 

 % Amer. Journ. Physiol., xxii. (1908) pp. 357-61 (1 fig.). 

 § Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., xxxiii. (1908) pp. 66-7. 



