ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY. ETC. 25 



Cytology of Coccygeal Gland.* — 0. Stoerk has investigated the 

 question of the chromaffin reaction of the cells of the coccygeal gland 

 in man, and its relation to the sympathetic nerve. His conclusion is 

 that these cells do not give this reaction either in foetal or post-foetal 

 life. There is no histogenetic connection with the sympathetic ; such a 

 relation exists rather with the branches of the medial elements of the 

 arteria sacralis media. 



Preen-Gland in Birds.f— B. Lunghetti describes the structure and 

 mode of origin of this organ in a number of birds. It appears to 

 arise differently in different cases, and primary and more advanced 

 conditions can be distinguished. The gland always consists of two 

 lobes, though in some fusion — e.g. Passer — takes place. Each lobe 

 contains a cavity, larger in the adult than in the young, which arises 

 from the blending of the exit ducts of the constituent glands. There 

 are several types of cell in the glandular epithelium, the exterior series 

 of which is extremely rich in fat. 



Intra-vital Staining of Bone.| — E. Retterer has experimented on 

 this subject, and finds that colouring substances such as Congo-red, 

 methylen-blue, indigo-carmin, etc., behave like nutritive elements, 

 uniting with the living protoplasm and, when their administration is 

 suspended, disappearing by absorption. These intra-vital colorations 

 demonstrate the pre-existence of the amorphous elements in bony tissue,. 

 for they are seen to have in the living bone the same form and arrange- 

 ment as in bone well fixed and coloured. Osseous canaliculi or nutritive 

 canals do not exist in living bone. 



Exoskeleton of Syngnathus.§ — W. Kasanzeff finds that the main 

 part of the definitive integumentary covering of the pipe-fish is formed 

 from bony tissue, which arises in the connective-tissue between the 

 in-sunk ectodermic primordia and the epidermis. 



Synapsis in Newt.||— J. E. S. Moore and AKce L. Embleton find 

 that the somatic chromosomes are visible in the resting cells ; that 

 during the inception of the synaptic phase these chromosomes pair so as 

 to form double bodies, which are the forerunners of the adult gemini 

 (heterotype chromosomes, allotype chromosomes, bivalent chromo- 

 somes, etc.) ; that by growth and elongation the gemini constitute the 

 polarised loops of the first maiotic prophase ; that these loops become 

 longitudinally split and, later, each longitudinally divided aggregate rolls 

 itself up into one or other of the forms assumed by the adult gemini ; 

 that in these later stages in Triton the longitudinal fission of the chro- 

 mosomes becomes almost but not quite closed up, and in the diaster the 

 separated chromosomes again exhibit it ; while, finally, it is seen that 

 this split functions in the second maiotic (homotype) division. 



♦ Arch. Mikr. Anat., Ixix. (1906) pp. 322-39 (2 figs.), 

 t Tom. cit., pp. 264-321 (2 pis. and 11 figs.), 

 t Journ. de I'Anat. et Phys., xlii. No. 5 (1906) pp. 436-86 (1 pi.). 

 § Zool. Anzeig., xxx. (1906) pp. 854-61 (6 figs.). 



I Proc. Roy. Soc. London, Series B, Ixxvii. No. B521 (1906) pp. 555-62 (4 pla. 

 and 8 figs.). 



