ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 573 



and an anterior region containing a Malpighian corpuscle which is the 

 persistent corpuscle of the pronephros. The mesonephvos has no Mal- 

 pighian corpuscles, and consists of a number of branched tubules, while 

 the pronephros retains throughout life the condition which is embryonic 

 for other Teleosts. In the female the tubules of the kidney have a 

 smaller diameter, and the lobes are therefore less well developed than in 

 the male. In both sexes the Malpighian corpuscles of the pronephros 

 are the only ones which are present. 



Pneumaticity of Mammalian Skull.* — Dr. Simon Paulli, in the 



course of his investigations on this subject, has studied the skull of 

 Ungulates and of the elephant. He finds that in the Ungulates the air- 

 chambers of the skull are well developer!, especially in the larger forms. 

 In some, as in the rhinoceros and in cattle, the air-spaces are distributed 

 over the whole skull, but the pneumaticity rapidly diminishes with the 

 size of the species, so that in Tragulus it is very slightly developed. To 

 this rule the hippopotamus forms an exception ; for in it the slight de- 

 velopment of the air-spaces is in marked contrast to the size of the skull. 

 In regard to the development of the air-spaces, the elephant shows well- 

 marked analogies with the Ungulates. 



Moles' Burrows, j — D. Eossinsky has published a number of plans 

 and sections of moles' burrows. These do not corroborate the geometri- 

 cally regular arrangement displayed in some of the older figures, but 

 they show considerable complexity, with numerous individual variations. 

 It is difficult, however, to discuss the matter without figures. 



Attaching Organs of Geckotidae.]: — Anton Haase has studied the 

 structure and development of the organs of attachment found on the 

 feet of geckos. His material included adults of numerous genera and 

 embryos of Hemidactylus mabounia. The author agrees with Cartier 

 that the lamellae of the organ are to be regarded as modified- scales, and 

 finds that the ventral or palmar surface and the dorsal surface differ in 

 structure from one another, the ventral epidermis being thicker and more 

 complicated in structure than the dorsal. But in most details the results 

 appear simply to confirm those of previous investigators. As to develop- 

 ment, the conditions seen in the embryo show clearly that the lamella? 

 are merely modified scales, and develope as scales. The author considers 

 that the exact way in which attachment occurs has not yet been ad- 

 equately explained. 



Position of Myxinoids.§ — Dr. M. Furbringer has a brief note on 

 this subject, and on the question of the existence of an old and a new 

 mouth in Myxine. He is of opinion that recent work confirms his view 

 that the Myxinoids have no close relationship to the Petromyzontes, and 

 should be separated from them. On the other hand, he now abandons 

 the term Distoma as applied to the Myxinoids, as the work of Price and 

 of von Kupfler on Bdellostoma shows that in the first place the nasal 

 canal cannot be regarded as the primitive mouth, and secondly, von 

 Kupffer's observations show that mouth and nasal canal are both differ- 



* Morph. Jahrb., xxviii. (1900) pp. 179-251 (7 pis. and 44 figs.), 

 t Zool. Jahrb. (Abt. Syst.), xiii. (1900) pp. 287-98 (2 pis. and 4 figs.). 

 t Arch. Natunresch., lxvi. (1900) pp. 321-40 (2 pis.). 

 § Morph. Jahrb., xxviii. (1900) pp. 478-82. 



