430 
trigeminal group of nerves. I have pointed out in my previous papers 
that in the Elasmobranchii the canal system was supplied solely by 
the facial group, and in the Ganoidei the same feature still obtained, 
with the addition of a larger innervation from the ramus oticus, and 
also a portion of the system in Polyodon was supplied by the ramus 
mandibularis of the trigeminal.” In Amiurus he describes all the 
pre-auditory lateral line nerves as branches of the trigeminus and 
adds: “No portion of the facial nerve, so far as I have been able to 
trace, innervates any portion of the sensory canal system.” In some 
cases it is expressly stated that these lateral line nerves arise from 
the Gasserian ganglion and in others this is the obvious inference. 
Such is certainly not the case either in Menidia or in any other 
fish whose roots and ganglia have received a careful microscopical 
examination. I may add that his errors are, in a measure, explained 
by a passage in his introduction in which he states that he prefers 
dissection as a means of research to the microscopical study of 
sections. 
In a group so highly and diversely specialized as the Teleosts we 
should be constantly mindful of the danger of making sweeping 
generalizations on a slender observational basis. Yet, having succeeded 
in analyzing both centrally and peripherally the components of an 
extreme type like Menidia, whose cranial nerves are thoroughly 
fused and metamorphosed and having reduced them to the primitive 
schema presented by the Amphibia, we have reason to expect that the 
same schema will apply to all Teleosts. So far as the central termin- | 
ations are concerned, this is fully substantiated by the comparative 
work of KınGsBuryY and all others who have studied the roots care- 
fully from this standpoint. Regarding the peripheral courses of the 
components in fishes, we have as yet few exact data for comparison. 
Department of Zoology, Columbia University. 
New York, 11. February 1897. 
Literature. 
1. Aıııs, E. P., The Cranial Muscles and Cranial and first Spinal Nerves 
in Amia calva. Journ. of Morphology, Vol. 11, Pt. 2, 1895. 
2. Coxe, Franx. J. On the Cranial Nerves of Chimaera monstrosa with | 
a Discussion of the Lateral Line System and of the Morphology of 
the Chorda Tympani. Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, Vol. 38, Pt. 3, 1896, 
No. 19. 
3. Cottincr, Watrer E., On the Sensory Canal System of Fishes. A. 
Physostomi. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Apr. 2, 1895. 
