284 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



pars conjunctivalis and the substantia propria is a conjunctival sac 

 which saves the eye from drying. The so-called scleral muscle consists 

 of the ordinary eye-muscles, of which two only are well-developed. 

 They do not regulate the lens, but move the Inilb. The so-called 

 choroideal gland is a space full of blood-corpuscles, and seems to be a 

 saccular enlargement of the ophthalmic vein. There are no special 

 arrangements for protruding and retracting the eye, but the large 

 conjunctival sac is adaptive to the semi-terrestrial life. 



Adipose Lobe of Salmon's Pelvic Fin.* — E. W. Shann describes 

 this curious lobe which lies in the angle between the pelvic fin and the 

 body- wall, in a position dorsal to and abaxial from the first or outermost 

 fin-ray. Its minute structure is described. The presence of an accessory 

 scale, or, in some instances, of a flap of skin in a corresponding topo- 

 graphical position, is a widespread feature in Teleostean fishes. It is 

 shown that the adipose lobe is neither more nor less than a large body- 

 scale which has never broken through its surrounding pocket. It may 

 suggest the lines by which a fin may have been derived from a scaly 

 outgrowth of tlie body-wall. Perhaps the adipose lobes act as additional 

 balancing organs for the pelvic region ; perhaps they may act as dams 

 to prevent the back-wash of water, thus helping in the swift swimming 

 for which the salmon is noted. 



Chromatophores in Skin of Trachinus vipera.t— E. Ballowitz 

 gives a full account of a kind of compound-chromatophore which he 

 has discovered in the skin of this Teleost. Besides melauophores, 

 iridocytes and iridosomes, there are these multicellular chromatophores, 

 to which he gives the name of melaniridosomes. 



Cyclostome Eye.J — B. Mozejko discusses the nature of the Cyclo- 

 stome eye, with especial reference to that of the larval lamprey. The 

 general development is like that of higher A^ertebrates, but the Ijulbus 

 is distinctly on simpler lines than that of Gnathostomes. There is 

 evidence of ontogenetic degeneration. The simple character of the 

 lens in Ammocoetes and its absence in Myxinoids, the poor development 

 of the eye-muscles, or their entire suppression, may be taken as evidences 

 of the degeneration. On the other hand, there is evidence of primitive- 

 ness, thai the Cyclostome eye belongs to a more ancient type than the 

 Gnathostome eye. Thus there are only cones in the retina, no rods ; 

 and there are other primitive features in the retina, as also in the 

 relation of the myotomes to the eye-musculature. 



Hermaphroditism in Amphioxus.§ — E. S. Goodrich describes a 

 male with one ovary. On the right side there were 25 gonads, all 

 testes full of spermatozoa ; but on the left side the row of 25 gonads 

 was interrupted by the presence of a single ovary (the ninth in the 

 series) containing numerous large ova, which could be distinguished 

 even in the living animal. The remaining twenty-four gonads on the 



* Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., Iviii. (1913) pp. 703-32 (1 pi. and 3 figs.), 



t Zeitschr. wiss. Zool., civ. (1913) pp. 471-529 (5 pis. and 7 figs.). 



X Anat. Anzeig., xlii. (1912) pp. 612-20 (4 figs.). 



§ Anat. Anzeig., xlii. (1913) pp. 318-20 (2 figs.). 



