60 
The second note related to the question of hermaphroditism in 
the Marsipobranchii. From the structure of the ovary and testis 
in P. planeri and from the known facts of the hermaphroditism of 
young females of Myxine (CuUNNINGHAM, NANSEN and RETZIUS) the 
author had theoretically concluded that male lampreys might show 
traces of hermaphroditism in their essential organs. To test this 
supposition he had prepared the testis of a lamprey for sectioning, 
but had not found time to complete the work. The prepared blocks 
were used by the advanced class of Zoology in the University of 
Edinburgh during the summer work. In the first sections cut one of 
the members of the class, Mr. B. L. SEAweLL!), B. Se., now of Lin- 
coln, Nebraska, U. S. A., drew the speaker’s attention to the existence 
of a well-marked ovum among the spermatozoa. 
Further study proved that one well-marked ovum, occupying a 
follicle for itself, was present in about every 40 sections (of 1/,) 9 mm 
each). Whether this condition was general in every male lamprey 
was not yet known, but the matter was not without interest if only 
with reference to the speculations of MM. Howes and van WIJHE on 
the possible hermaphroditism of ancestral Vertebrates. The writer ad- 
mitted that the observation might be interpretated as forming a sup- 
port for the views of these zoologists, although he himself did not 
agree with their conclusions, his reasons for dissent being based upon 
an interpretation of the meaning of hermaphroditism generally. 
Nachdruck verboten. 
Fusion of Hands. 
By Tomas Dwieut, M. D., LL. D., 
Parkman-Professor of Anatomy at Harvard-University. 
With 4 figures. 
. 
The paper, of which the following is an abstract, is about to 
appear in Volume IV of the Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural 
History. It was presented to the Society on April 20 1892. It is 
illustrated by ten reproductions of photographs and one diagram. As 
I know of no other account of the dissection of such a case I send 
1) The writer invited this gentleman to investigate the matter further, 
but he declined, and the observation is now published as Mr. SEAWELL’s, 
