ZOOLOGY. 729 



doubtless afford the means for the more thorough study of the animals 

 for which it is destined. The structure is 120 feet long and 60 feet wide. 

 Fixed cages for the pythons and other large reptiles occupy three sides, 

 and the south front is reserved for small movable cases. A large oval 

 tank for crocodiles, and two smaller ones for tortoises, are in the center 

 of the building. (Nature, vol. xxvm, p. 17.) 



New researches on the Dinosaurians. — Several important contributions 

 to our knowledge of the Dinosaurians have been published during 

 1883, among them, Notes, by Mr. L. Dollo, on the Belgian Iguanodon- 

 tidae of the now celebrated Bernissart " find " ; one by Prof. J. M. 

 Hulke, in which an " attempt " (and doubtless approximately successful 

 one) is made to illustrate the complete osteology of Hypsilophodon 

 Foxii of the English Vealden ; and an article by Prof. E. D. Cope on 

 "The Structure and Appearance of a Laramie Dinosaurian" — the Dio- 

 clonius mirabilis, one of the Hadrosauridae. 



A peculiar family of Gecko-like lizards. — The Gecconidae, or Geckos, 

 are exceptional among the Lacertilian reptiles by the possession of 

 of biconcave vertebrae, and have a peculiar physiognomy by which they 

 can, as a rule, be at once recognized. It has recently been discovered, 

 however, that several generic types of lizards, which superficially re- 

 semble the Geckos, are distinguished from them by concavo-convex or 

 procoelous vertebrae, and other differential characters are associated 

 with this divergence. The genera now known to be thus distinguished 

 are the Indian JEublepharis, the West African Psilodactylm, and the 

 American Coleonyx. Mr. Boulenger has recently proposed for the re- 

 ception of these forms a peculiar family, which he has named Euble- 

 pharidce. The new family is definable as Lacertilia with procoelous 

 vertebrae, united parietal bones, incomplete orbital ring, and without a 

 parietal bar; the Gecconidae remain still as Lacertilians with biconcave 

 vertebrae, distinct parietal bones, incomplete orbital ring, and deficient 

 parietal bar. It is urged by Mr. Boulenger that, in view of the facts, 

 the suborder Nyctisaura should be abandoned, and it is recalled that the 

 Varanidae have the orbit incompletely surrounded, and the Heloder- 

 midae are destitute of a parietal bar. 



The poison of Heloderma. — "A partial study of the poison of ffelo- 

 derma suspectum (Cope), the Gila monster," has been made by Drs. S. 

 Weir Mitchell and E. T. Reichert, of Philadelphia. The poisonous 

 character of the lizard has been fully confirmed, and the physiological 

 and pathological characteristics of the poison have been made known. 

 It is a "virulent heart poison," which "contrasts" strongly with the 

 venoms of serpents, since they give rise to local hemorrhages, and cause 

 death chiefly through failure of the respiration, and not by the heart, 

 unless given in overwhelming doses. They lower muscle and nerve 

 reactions, especially those of the respiratory apparatus, but do not, as 



