664 SUMMAEY OF CUREENT EESE ARCHES RELATING TO 



the ligamentum transversum atlantis has become ossified and ankylosed 

 to the odontoid process. The superior articular surfaces of the atlas are 

 not concave, but form a flat, sloping surface, on which the cranium can 

 rotate, and thus in some measure compensate for the loss of rotatory 

 movement which the immovable union of atlas and axis prevents. 

 There is no trace of any pathological process : it is a clear case of 

 developmental eccentricity. 



Rare Vertebral Anomalies.* — A. Rauber describes two cases of 

 abnormal vertebra3 in man. In one case the sixth cervical vertebra was 

 made up of two parts which separated on maceration. One consisted of 

 both lower articular processes, and the terminal piece of the vertebral 

 arch with its spinous process. This formed a posterior vertebral piece, 

 whilst the larger and more anterior part consisted of the centrum, both 

 transverse and both upper articular processes. This rare obUque 

 division of the four articular processes into an upper and an under 

 group is all the more remarkable in that the author describes a similar 

 condition in the second lumbar vertebra of another adult subject. All 

 the other vertebrae in the two individuals were normal. 



Ossification of Human Sacrum.f — E. Fawcett describes the com- 

 pletion of this process, which may be summed up thus : Each auricular 

 facet is formed in the main by the development and fusion of four 

 costal epiphyses, two of which belong to S 1 and two to S 2. Each 

 tuberosity is formed by the fusion of the costal epiphysis of S 3 and S 4 

 with the epiphyses of the transverse processes of S 4 and S 5. Each 

 sacral transverse process (with the exception of the second) develops an 

 epiphysis. The mammillary processes of the first sacral vertebra only 

 are formed by epiphyses. Finally, the spines of the first three sacral 

 vertebra when complete develop an epiphysis. 



Immunity in Hibernating Marmot. | — R. Blanchard and M. Blatin 

 have experimented with various Trypanosomes, Spirochsetes, and Trichina 

 in the active and hibernating marmot. In certain cases, e.g. Trypano- 

 soma brucei, T. gamhiensi, T. evansi, the marmot is susceptible when 

 active, but when hibernating is absolutely immune. The parasites 

 appear to die on account of the low temperature. The same result was 

 got with Trichinge. No effect was got with Spirochceta duttoni in either 

 the active or hibernating animal. 



African Mungooses.§ — R. C. Wroughton describes the various 

 species of African mungoose usually referred to the Herpestes gracilis 

 group. He finds that with the more abundant material at his command 

 the group divides easily into two, one including the smaller, the other 

 the larger forms, and that these two may each again be split up into two 

 with well-marked distinguishing characters. A key to the proposed 

 classification is followed by detailed notes on the forms examined. 



* Morphol. Jahrb., xxxvi. (1907) pp. 602-8 (1 pi.), 

 t Anat. Anzeig., xxx. (1907) pp. 414-21. 



X Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xxxii. (1907) pp. 32-40. See also Archiv Parasitol., 

 xi. (1907) p. 361. § Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., xx. (1907) pp. 110-21. 



