ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 31 



to the conclusion that this org in, so closely allied to muscle, must derive 

 the energy it expends from proteid substances. 



In the marmot's hibernal slumbers, when it is quite unstimulated 

 there is no sugar or glycogen in the blood and muscles, although move- 

 ments can be readily provoked, and although those of the heart aud 

 those associated with respiration continue. This leads Dubois to con- 

 clude that the sugar and glycogen in homoeothermal animals are above 

 all useful in producing the temperature necessary for the vigorous func- 

 tioning of the muscle-fibres. 



Phosphorescent Organs of Toadfish.* — Mr. C. W. Greene has in- 

 vestigated these organs in Porichthys notatus Girard, which is a common 

 inhabitant of the shore waters off the western coast of North America. 

 The organs are obvious in the living fish as bright silvery spots, 

 arranged in rows chiefly on the ventral and ventro-lateral surfaces of 

 the body ; they are closely associated in their distribution with the 

 lateral line sense-organs. Each phosphorescent organ is placed in the 

 deeper portion of the dermis, and consists of the following parts : — 



(1) the lens, a mass of polygonal cells with highly refractive cytoplasm ; 



(2) the gland, a shallow cup of cells secreting a substance soluble in 

 alcohol ; (3) the reflector, a cup-shaped structure composed of modified 

 connective-tissue, whose constituent fibres are largely modified into 

 reflecting "spicules"; (4) pigment, which, in the form of branched 

 chromatophores, occurs in connection with the reflector. The phos- 

 phorescent organs have apparently no special nerve supply. They arise 

 late in development, apparently from a proliferation of local epidermal 

 cells. The function of the organs is doubtful ; for it would appear that 

 phosphorescence has not been observed to occur under natural conditions. 

 Nevertheless, fish placed in sea-water made alkaline by ammonia are 

 brilliantly phosphorescent, and the phenomenon can also be produced 

 by vigorous electrical stimulation ; but in two fish obtained from deep 

 water phosphorescence could not be produced by any means. The 

 majority of the specimens were sexually mature forms obtained from 

 the vicinity of the nests, and as all these could be rendered phosphor- 

 escent, there is a possibility that the organs are more highly developed 

 at the breeding season. 



Air and Water as Factors in Nutrition-! — Prof. E. Dubois com- 

 ments on S. Jourdain's observations on the manner in which the eggs 

 of amphibians utilise air and water. Dubois has shown that there is 

 at a certain stage in the development of the glowworm a period when 

 the weight increases, due to a fixation of the results of oxidation and to 

 the absorption of water. 



Relation between Structure and Function.^ — Prof. C. S. Sherring- 

 ton noted, in a presidential address to the Liverpool Biological Society, 

 that at first sight, function seem* in many instances more obviously 

 related to morphological structure than is borne out by a more searching 

 examination of the two. He took the arm and hand of man, with 

 particular reference to their nerves, as an illustration of the question — 



* Journ. Morphol., xv. (1S99) pp. 067-96 (3 pis.). 

 t Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, xlv. (1809) pp. 99-100. 

 ' " j|_ % Proc. and Trans. Liverpool Biol. Soc, xiii. (1899) pp. 1-20. 



