708 SCMMAKV OF (TRKKNT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Anatomy of Australian Amphibia.* -- Georgina Sweet has in- 

 vestigated the anatomy of eight Australian Amphibians: Hyla aurea, 

 H. lesueurii, Notaden bennetti, Pseudophryne australis, Crinia signifera, 

 Heleioporus pictus, Ghiroleptes alboguttatus, Lymnodynastes dorsal is. 

 with special reference to the opening of the nephrostomes from the 

 coelom, and the connection of the vasa deferentia with the kidney. 

 Nephrostomial openings were found in all the tonus. There was 

 considerable evidence that, in the course of their disappearance in the 

 adult condition, during the evolution of the group, the nephrostomes 

 have been subjected to well-marked modifications, their original con- 

 nection with the kidney tubules being transferred to the renal vessels. 

 Likewise, their function has changed from that' of conducting fluid from 

 the body-cavity to the exterior, to that of lymph-vessels. Moreover, 

 their degree of development seems to be, to a great extent, individual, 

 or characteristic of the species, varying greatly in harmony with their 

 functional importance, both in turn being associated apparently with 

 differences : in the habits of the animal. In Notaden bennetti, along with 

 the greater development in one direction, there seems to have been a 

 check to the harmonious development of these structures in all parts of 

 the kidney, since there are still present along the edges nephrostomial 

 tubules in various stages of modification as to their internal con- 

 nections. 



In all the species studied, of which male specimens were obtained, it 

 was found that the separation of the male reproductive ducts from the 

 excretory ducts has not begun, the condition being comparable to that 

 found in Rana esculenta, the higher stage found in Ranafusca not being 

 present in the Australian species so far examined. They are, therefore, 

 far less specialised than are the corresponding parts in Alytes obstetricans, 

 which are the most specialised known in the Anura. 



Corpora adiposa in Frog.f — R. Robinson brings forward some 

 evidence to show that these bodies play an important, still undefined 

 role in the economy of the frog. 



Function of Optic Lobes in Fishes. $ — Jose Gomez Ocaiia brings 

 forward some evidence, based on experiments on goldfish, to show that 

 the optic lobes are concerned not only with visual impressions, but are 

 important in connection with the movements and equilibrium of the 

 body. 



Mimicry in the Common Sole.§ — A. T. Masterman describes the 

 habits of the two common species of weever (Trachinus), and suggests 

 that the black patch of the pectoral fin in the sole is a case of mimicry 

 in relation to the black dorsal fin of the weever, which is supposed to act 

 as a danger signal. The sole shares with the plaice, turbot, and some 

 other flat-fish, the habit of lying concealed in the mud at the approach 

 of an enemy. But, unlike them, it does not, when concealment becomes 

 useless, scurry away with rapid, striking movements, in which the fins 



* Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria, xx. (1908) pp. 222-49 (2 pis.), 

 t Comptes Rendus., cxlvii. (1908) pp. 277-9. 

 X Bull. Soc. Espafi. Hist. Nat., viii. (1908) pp. 247-9 (1 fig.). 

 § Journ. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) xxx. (1908) pp. 239-44. 



