44 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



coagulation, and no blood- thrombin is formed. Some have only J an 

 anti-cytozyme power ; others have besides this a power of coagulating the 

 plasma or solutions of fibrinogen, for they contain specific substances 

 with an action comparable to that of the blood-thrombin. This is only 

 an indication of the results of prolonged researches. J. A. T. 



Morphology of So-called Balancers in Amblystoma. — John S. 

 Latta {Anat. Record, 1919, 17, 63-71, 4 figs.). The larvae of some 

 species of Amblystoma and a few other salamanders are, at an early stage 

 of their development, possessed of a long villiform process on each side 

 of the head, a little ventral to the eye and equidistant between it and the 

 base of the external gills. They are very rigid and resistant for struc- 

 tures so slender, and they are almost immovable. There is no relation 

 to the hyoid, or Meckel's cartilage, such as the external gills have to the 

 gill-arches. A dermal bone develops in connexion with each. This is 

 formed within its own substance, while that of the Cascilian tentacle is 

 independently formed and comes secondarily into relation with it. 

 Larvae without balancers sink into the mud when coming to rest. The 

 balancers serve as props. They show some regenerative capacity. It 

 seems impossible to homologize them with an external gill or with a 

 Caecilian tentacle. If they have any homologue in other forms, it is 

 most likely the stalked " suctorial discs " of Triton and the viscid organs 

 of Anuran larvae. J. A. T. 



Lympathic System of Anuran Amphibia. — Otto F. Kampmeier 

 {Anat. Record, 1919, 16, 341-53). A summary is given of an unpublished 

 monograph on the lymphatic system in the frog and toad, with especial 

 reference to its origin and development. The author deals with the 

 lymphatic system in fully formed individuals, the modifications of the 

 venous system during development, the components of the system in 

 young tadpoles, the origin and development of the primary maxillary 

 lymph sinus, the origin and development of the jugular lymphatics, the 

 anterior lymph hearts, the lateral lymphatics of the trunk, the subver- 

 tebral lymphatics (thoracic ducts), the posterior lymph hearts and the 

 lymphatics of the tail, the formation of the lymphatic capillaries, the 

 transformation of the lymphatic vessels of the tadpole into the lymph 

 sacs and sinuses of the adult, and the homology of the chief components 

 of the lymphatic ground-plan in the different groups of vertebrates. 



J. A. T. 



New Blind Fish from Texas. — Carl H. Eigenmann {Proc. Amer. 

 Phil. Soc, 1919, 58, 397-400, 2 figs.). From an artesian well in San 

 Antonio, Texas, a small blind catfish, Trogloglanis pattersoni g. etsp. n., 

 was obtained. Some of the catfishes are nocturnal, and seek their food 

 by touch and taste organs, and various catfishes have become blind in 

 different parts of the world. This new one is probably derived from a 

 genus like Schilbeodes. Just as the eyes of the Texan blind newt 

 XTyphlomolge) are more degenerate than those of the salamanders of 

 Missouri, so, judging from external appearancas, the eyes of Troyloglanis 

 are more degenerate than those of any of the blind fishes from farther 

 north. J. A. T. 



