ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 29 



Giant Deer is too much specialised for that, and deserves to hold a 

 somewhat independent place in the system. On the other hand, the 

 Giant Deer and the Reindeer are phylogenetically much more closely 

 related to one another than either of them is to any other member of 

 the Cervicornia. 



Tertiary Vertebrates of the Fayum.* — C. W. Andrews makes, in 

 this descriptive catalogue, an important contribution to the phylogeny of 

 the Proboscidea. His description of Ars mother ium — an extraordinary 

 rhinoceros-like mammal — is of great interest, especially as the conclusion 

 is that this bizan-e ponderous type is descended from the same ancestral 

 stock as the Hyracoidea. It is argued, inter alia, that the Sirenia are 

 related to the Proboscidea, and the Cetacea to the Creodonta. We 

 cannot do more than notice the " Catalogue," but its importance to 

 students of the Mammalia is very great. 



Pericardial-Peritoneal Communication in Rabbit.f — F. Hoch- 

 stetter finds that in rabbit embryos there exists on each side an open 

 connection between the pericardial and peritoneal cavities. These com- 

 munications arise ventrally from the mesocardia lateralia and laterally 

 from the ven^ omphalomesentericae. He names them the ductus 

 pericardiaco-peritonealis (ventralis). 



Hair of Spiny Anteater.J— K. Toldt, Jun., describes a series of 

 transition forms of hair from a specimen of Tachyglossus {Echidna) 

 aculeatiis. These range from delicate wool to the true spines through 

 fine gradations. The intermediate forms have long and strong terminal 

 thickenings. The question as to whether spines or hairs represent the 

 more primitive state cannot be settled by the evidence here supplied, for 

 it may be used to support either view. The case speaks for great 

 individual variability of the coat of the anteaters in general. The hair 

 should not be used for systematic distinctions. 



Relationships of Orang-Utan.§ — Mario Ohio has experimented with 

 the blood-test method, and finds evidence that the blood of the orang 

 has much more affinity with that of man than with that of Macacus, or 

 any non- Anthropoid. 



Occipital Condyles in Mammals.jl — C. S. Mead discusses the 

 adaptive modifications of the condyles. The degree of mobility possessed 

 by the head is directly correlated with the curvature of the condyles, and 

 to some extent with their sessile or pedunculate position. The sessile 

 condition never occurs except when the neck is short. When the head 

 can be turned through a large arc the condyles are strongly curved and 

 pedunculate. The condyles of such a form as the hedgehog represent a 

 generalised type ; the sea-otter {Latax lutris) is specialised, having four 

 accessory condyles, or six altogether. The adaptations to carnivorous 



? * A Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of the Fayum, Egypt. 

 Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum. London 1906 xxxvii 

 and 324 pp., 26 pis. 



t Anat. Anzeig., xxix. (1906), pp. 41-9 (7 figs.). 



t Zool. Anzeig. , xxx. (1906) pp. 305-19 (5 figs.). 



§ Atti R. Accad. Sci. Torino, xli. (1906) pp. 1093-7. 



II Amer. Naturalist, xl. (1906) pp. 475-83 (2 figs.). 



