ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. it 



Spermaceti-organ of Kogia breviceps.* — B. Danois finds that the 

 general character of this organ in Kogia is like that in the Cachalot. 

 The cavities seem to be homologous in the two types. Danois corro- 

 borates the view of Pouchet and Beauregard that the spermaceti-organ 

 is a dependence of the right nostril, and represents the mucous amygda- 

 loid gland in the right nostril of other toothed Cetaceans, such as the 

 dolphin. 



Fossil Cetacea.f — G. H. Perkins reports on various fossil remains 

 of Cetacea in North America, and the result of a painstaking inquiry is 

 to show that the specimens in the museums of Ottawa, Halifax and 

 Montreal may be referred to the following species : — DeJphinapterus 

 Uveas Gray, D. vermontanus Thompson, Monodon monoceros Binn., and 

 Megaptera longimana (Cooks) Gray. 



Guttural Pouches of Horse.} - Walter Stapely discusses these 

 hernial modifications of the auditory tube of the horse. Between the 

 lateral and median fibro-cartilaginous lamina? of the auditory tube, the 

 mucous membrane of the tube finds its exit, in sac form, into the retro- 

 pharynx. The mucous membrane of the tube has probably been dragged 

 out of the tube by adhesion of the stylo-hyoid bone with the membranous 

 lamina, and through it adhesion to the mucosa and stylo-hyoid has 

 occurred. The development of depth of the mandible caused a descent 

 of the larynx, with which organ the stylo-hyoid bones were also carried 

 down. The mucous folds, once in the retropharynx, were spread to 

 their present confines by flexion and extension of the atlo-occipital joint, 

 etc., through adhesion of the sub-mucosa with the surrounding structures. 



The guttural pouches have a protective value, and allow of free move- 

 ment of the head. They adapt themselves to every movement so beau- 

 tifully that nerve pressures or pulls do not occur. Perhaps the contained 

 air lessens friction. 



Relative Immunity of Birds to Anthrax.§ — Otto Hofherr finds 

 that, though there is no absolute immunity, it is very rare for healthy 

 adult birds to be naturally infected with anthrax. He has brought 

 about artificial infection in pigeons, ducks, and fowls, by introducing 

 large numbers of anthrax spores into the alimentary canal. The condi- 

 tions that favour infection are inanition, disease, and youth. 



Grass Snake in the Sea.|| — J. Guerin-Ganivet reports the capture 

 of a grass snake (Tropidodontus natrix) well out to sea between the 

 Finistere coast and the Glenan Islands. If it came from the islands, it 

 must have gone four miles, but it was probably from the mainland — six 

 miles off. 



Muddy Taste in Fresh-water Fishes.f — Louis Leger has made 

 some interesting experiments showing that the well-known disagreeable 



» Comptes Rendus, cli. (1910) pp. 690-2. 



t Proc. Trans. Nova Scotia Inst. Halifax, xii. (1910) pp. 139-63 (8 pis.). 

 \ Proc. R. Soc. Victoria, xxiii. (1910) pp. 33-5. 

 § Centralbl. Bakt., lv. (1910) pp. 434-64. 

 || Bull. Inst. Oceanogr. Monaco, No. 131 (1909) pp. 1-2. 

 1 Comptes Rendus, cli. (1910) pp. 900- 2. 



