373 



a motor postspiraeular nerve related to the anterior face of the hyoid 

 arch, just as the prespiracular nerve should be related to the posterior 

 face of the mandibular arch. On this ground alone (and there are 

 others) Allis 'internal mandibular' must be a morphological pre-spira- 

 cular nerve, and as such is wrongly named by him. As the whole 

 question however, involves also the question of the homology of the 

 chorda tympani, it is first necessary to show what Allis' views are 

 on the latter question." Then a rather long quotation is given from 

 my work followed by the comment; "An examination of this passage 

 reveals several flaws." 



The discussion that then follows will, perhaps, be best answered 

 by simply considering the passage I have above quoted from Cole. 



In the first place is it not "somewhat unphilosophical" for Cole 

 to assert, as the words "on this ground alone" certainly seem to assert, 

 that a certain nerve in Amia, said to be mis-called by me the in- 

 ternal mandibular, becomes of necessity a prespiracular nerve simply 

 because he has already pointed out that the terms internal mandibular 

 aud hyoideus, as first used by Stannius, were synonymous and applied 

 to a motor, postspiraeular nerve? 



In the second place were the two terms, as first used by Stannius, 

 synonymous ? 



On turning to Cole's earlier work (No. 5) at the pages he refers 

 to, the following statement is found on p. 657 : "Stannius, who was 

 The first to prove that the Vllth was a branchial nerve associated with 

 the spiracle, classified the facial as follows, the hyomandibular giving off: 



1) Palatine, with prae-spiracular or prae-branchial branches to 

 spiracle. 



a) External mandibular to la- 

 teral line. 



2) Hyoidean or post-branchial = J b) Internal mandibular or mo- 

 tor portion. Continued ven- 

 trally on to pharynx." 



If this schema of the nerve represents a reliable compilation of 

 Stannius' statements regarding it, it is seen, at once, that if hyoideus 

 and hyoidean can be considered as synonymous terms neither of them 

 is synonymous with internal mandibular, for the nerve represented by 

 the latter term is given as a part only of the former. Nevertheless, it 

 seems better to consult Stannius himself, since Cole reaffirms, in another 

 place (No. 5, p. 659), that: "In fishes the post-branchial division of 

 the facial has been uniformly described as the internal mandibular 

 (cp. Stannius, Jackson and Clarke, and Pinkus)". 



Turning to Stannius' 1849 memoir, which must be the work thai 

 Cole refers to, my interpretation of his statements is so totally dif- 

 ferent from Cole's that I think it best to simply quote the published 

 interpretation of a third person, Strong. That author says (No. 25, 

 p. 173) : "According to Stannius the facialis proper (Hyoideomandibu- 

 laris) divides into a posterior or more caudal branch, the R. hyoideus, 

 and a more anterior one, the R. mandibularis, proceeding along the 

 lower jaw, which either gives off a branch to the mucous membrane 



