RECENT ADVANCES IN SCIENCE 121 



new Cyprinid Fishes from East Africa " by Boulenger (Ann. 

 and Mag. Nat. Hist. No. 99, March 1916). Allis adds another 

 paper to his work on the arterial system of Elasmobranchs by 

 discussing " The So-called Mandibular Artery and the Persisting 

 Remnant of the Mandibular Aortic Arch in the Adult Selachian " 

 (Jour. Morph. vol. xxvii. March 191 6). 



Reasons for not regarding the germinal thickenings in the 

 ovary of some amphibia as stored-up germ cells are given by 

 Gatenby in " The Transition of Peritoneal Epithelial Cells into 

 Germ Cells in some Amphibia Anura, especially in Rana tem- 

 poraria " (Quart. Jour. Micro. Sci. vol. lxi. March 1916). In- 

 termediate stages between peritoneal cell and germ cell are 

 described and figured. In the Jour. Exper. Zool. vol. xx. 

 February 1916, Burr gives an account of " The Effects of the 

 Removal of the Nasal Pits in Ambly stoma embryos," Spaeth 

 produces " Evidence Proving the Melanophore to be a Dis- 

 guised Type of Smooth Muscle Cell," and in dealing with " The 

 Reactions of the Melanophores of Ambtystoma larve — the Sup- 

 posed Influence of the Pineal Organ," Laurens concludes that 

 this body has no influence on the melanophores. 



Certain tortoises and lizards examined by Delwiler possess 

 no rods but only cones in the retina. He deals histologically 

 with the migration of the retinal pigment when acted upon by 

 light in these forms in " The Effect of Light on the Retina of 

 the Tortoise and of the Lizard " (ibid.). A " Description of a 

 new Snake of the Genus Coluber from Northern China " is given 

 by Boulenger (Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. No. 99, March 1916). 



Pearl's recent work on fowl-breeding has been criticised by 

 Castle, and Pearl meets this criticism very fully in a note, 

 " Fecundity in the Domestic Fowl and the Selection Problem " 

 (Amer. Nat. vol. 1. January 191 6). 



A connected account of early marsupial development, 

 founded on the examination of a good series of well-preserved 

 stages, forms the basis of " Studies in the Development of the 

 Opossum Didelphys virgiana : I. History of the Early Cleavages ; 

 II. Formation of the Blastocyst," by Hargitt (Jour, of Morph. 

 vol. xxvii. March 191 6). Thomas contributes a series of papers 

 on the smaller mammals to the Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. : 

 " The Porcupine of Tenasserim and Southern Siam " and " On 

 the Grouping of South American Muridae that have been re- 

 ferred to Phyllotis, Euncomys, and Eligmodontia " (No. 97, 



