96 



separated from the remaining groups, the stomach structure with its pyloric 

 gizzard notably aberrant: the ileo-colic junction is traced throughout the Eden- 

 tates in a well marked series of transitional forms. — O. S. Strong »On 

 the Use of Formalin in Injecting Media«. The paper noted the advantages 

 possessed by this preservative in injecting the brain in situ. Formalin (40^0 

 formaldehyde) diluted with an equal volume of water is injected into the ce- 

 phalic vessels until it runs from the cut jugulars. After a few minutes the 

 same quantity is again injected and once or twice again after an elapse of 

 fifteen to twenty minutes. The brain is then removed and will be found to 

 be completely fixed throughout. The swelling usually noticed in formalin 

 hardened brains does not appear to take place when this method is employed. 

 Besides the many general advantages of fixing brains by injection, formalin 

 has the especially merit of giving them the best consistency for macroscopic 

 work, and further such brains are available subsequently for the Golgi and 

 Weigert methods as well as, possibly, for cytological methods. Formalin 

 also has the advantage that it can be used, as above, stronger than is neces- 

 sary for fixation and thus allowance made for its dilution when permeating 

 the tissue. When only the Golgi method is to be used, an equal volume of a 

 1 ^/ç) solution of potassium bichromate may be added to the formalin instead 

 of water. Pieces can be subsequently removed, hardened further in formalin- 

 bichromate and impregnated with silver. — Bashford Dean »On the Sup- 

 posed Kinship of the Paleospondylus«. A favorably preserved specimen of 

 this interesting fossil, received by the writer from Wm. T. Kinnear of Forss, 

 Scotland, appears to warrant the belief that this lamprey-like form was possessed 

 of paired fins, a character decidedly adverse to the now widely accepted view 

 of Marsipobranchian affinities. The structure referred to consists of a series 

 of transversely directed rays, arising from the region of the post-occipital 

 plates of Traquair. From this peculiar character, as well as from many un- 

 lamprey-like features of the fossil, it would appear accordingly that the kin- 

 ship of the Paleospondylus is as yet by no means definitely determined. — 

 C. L. Bristol, Sec, New York University, N. Y. City. 



III. Personal -Notizen. 



Prof. Dr. Fr. Dahl (Kiel) geht nach dem Bismarck-Archipel. Seine 

 Adresse wird Ralum auf Neu-Pommern sein. Drucksachen, welche für ihn 

 bestimmt sind, bittet er nach dem Zoologischen Institut in Kiel zu schicken. 



Necrolog. 



Am 3. Januar starb auf seiner Besitzung in Seggieden Colonel Henry 

 Maurice Drummond Hay, 82. Jahre alt, durch faunistische Arbeiten, nament- 

 lich über Fische und Vögel, rühmlich bekannt. 



Druck von Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. 



