ZOOLOGY AND ROT ANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 613 



membrane of the gut is much altered, perhaps taking on the functions 

 of the absent casca. 



The assertion often made that fat is absent is disproved. Similarly, 

 the statement that the circular layer of muscle in the intestine is found 

 external to the longitudinal, requires correction. There is an outer longi- 

 tudinal layer, a circular layer, and a thinner longitudinal layer, with some 

 oblique fibres. 



New Species of Odontopteryx.* — B. Spulski describes Odontopteryx 

 longirostris sp. n. from Tertiary deposits in Brazil. The specimen is 

 larger than Owen's 0. toliapicus from the London Clay, and in better 

 preservation. The skull is over \ in. in length ; the bill by itself being 

 0*4 m., and the rest of the skull 0" 13 m. The bird was probably rapid 

 in flight, catching fishes as it flew. The peg-like growths of bone on 

 the jaws are contrasted with the teeth in sockets which Archseopteryx 

 possessed. Some affinities with albatross, pelican, and ducks are re- 

 cognized. 



Air-sacs in Birds.f — A. Juillet has examined seventeen species, 

 and distinguishes several types. The anterior diaphragmatic sac may 

 communicate with the interclavicular sac. The latter may arise from the 

 third entobronchus by a canal common to the anterior diaphragmatic. 

 There may be seven openings (fowl, partridge, water-hen, etc.) or six 

 (pigeon and parrot), or more than seven (sparrow, gull, etc.). In 

 the second main type (confined to Anseriformes) the interclavicular 

 arises by a canal of its own from the first entobronchus, and does not 

 communicate with the first diaphragmatic. 



Snake-poison and Yolk of Egg.J — C. Delezenne and S. Ledebt 

 have shown that the venom of cobra and daboia, added to yolk of egg, 

 liberates, at the expense of the yolk, haemolytic and toxic substances 

 which are extremely potent in their effects. 



Effects of Starvation on Necturus maculatus.§ — W. M. Small- 

 wood and C. Gr. Rogers have studied two specimens which were kept 

 in a large tank, with running water, but without food, for 4 months 

 and 16 months respectively. The effect of the prolonged fast showed 

 itself in a distinct shrinkage of the whole body in the case of the one 

 starved for 16 months, while the other showed in its general appearance 

 little if any change. An account is given of some of the cytologic;! 1 

 peculiarities observed. 



Corpora Adiposa of Amphibians. || — Pierre Kennel has studied these 

 structures in frog, toad, and newt. They are really differentiations of 

 the serous membrane of the peritoneum, and should be called " adipo- 

 lymphoid " bodies. They have two functions, (1) storing fat during the 

 summer for utilization during the hibernating period, and (2) giving 



* Zeitschr. Deutsch. Geol. Ges., lxii. (L910) pp. 507-21. See also Zool. Zen- 

 tralbl., xvii. (1911) pp. 805-6. 



t Cornptes Rendus, clii. (1911) ]>]>. 1330-2. 

 t C.R.Soc. Biol., lxxi. (1911) pp. L21-4. 

 § Anat. Anzeig., xxxix. (1911 1 pp. L36 42 (11 figs.). 

 Cornptes Rendus, clii. (1911) pp. 1352-4. 



