Journal of Applied Microscopy. 313 



ANIMAL BIOLOGY. 



Agnes M. Claypole. 



Separates of papers and books on animal biology should be sent for review to 



Agnes M. Claypole, Sage College, 



Ithaca, N. Y^ 



CURRENT LITERATURE. 



., ^. . ,. - ^ . ^ ^. This investigation was started and 



INewbigin, M. S. On certain Green Pigments '^ 



in Invertebrates. Quart. Journ. Micro. Sci. carried On tO decide, if possible, the 



N. S., 163: pp. 391-431, pi 30, 31. nature of some of the green pigments 



found in invertebrates and hitherto considered as closely allied to or identical 

 with plant chlorophyl. A pigment occurring largely in the alimentary tract and 

 digestive glands has been called entero- chlorophyl to show both its similarity to 

 and difference from plant chlorophyl. Chaetopterin and bonellin are other well 

 known invertebrate pigments found by the author in these forms. Without going 

 into details, it may be said that the animal used principally for this study was the 

 common limpet {Patella vulgata), and entero-chlorophyl was obtained by drying 

 the tissues for chemical and spectroscopic studies ; liver, intestines, and the 

 contents of the gut being all used. Histological preparations were made from 

 tissue prepared in formalin, as this fixer did not destroy the pigment granules, 

 which event occured with ordinary hardeners. 



Most of the investigation was microspectroscopic with solutions of the 

 pigments in alcohol, changes on treatment with acids, alkalies, and certain salts 

 being carefully described. A most careful examination has been made and the 

 spectra figured. The author concludes that there exists in invertebrates a 

 widely spread group of pigments that occur primarily in the alimentary canal or 

 its outgrowths. These pigments form with alcohol solutions characteristically 

 fluorescent, of an indefinite color and having a spectrum of five bands when 

 fully developed. In complexity of spectrum and fluorescence they resemble 

 chlorophyl, but not in chemical reactions to acids and alkalies. Whatever 

 their prnnary function, they resemble the bile pigments of vertebrates in occur- 

 ring with the contents of the gut and in their elimination with the fseces. A 

 very interesting point came out in the tests conducted to demonstrate the 

 essential difterence between entero-chlorophyl and chlorophyl. On treatment 

 with certain acids a brilliant green color with a peculiar fluoresence is obtained. 

 This can be destroyed by the addition of alkalies, but will again return on 

 treatment with acids, thus showing a greater stability of structure in entero- 

 chlorophyl than in plant chlorophyl, which readily decomposes on similar 

 treatment and does not show any power to return to its former state. 



The author concludes that entero-chlorophyl is a substance of simpler con- 

 struction than plant chlorophyl, a conclusion in harmony with the general facts 

 as to animal substances. a. m. c. 



o 1 r. r. ^, o r ^T v Tlic author has taken up the question 



Bensley, R. R. The Structure of Mammalian ^ ^ 



Gastric Glands. Quart. Journ. Micro. Sci. of the difference between the pyloric 



163: pp. 361-390, pi. 29. ^^^ peptic glands of the stomach, and 



finds that the views of Heidenhain, Ebstein, and Griitzner are not longer tenable. 



