231 



New York Academy of Sciences. 



Biological Section. 

 (Meeting of November 8th 1897.) 



Mr. Mathews reported on analyses of sperraatozoa in Kossel's la- 

 boratory, Marburg. Sperm of Arbacia, herring, pig, and bull were 

 examined. Herring sperm heads were separated from the tails by 

 Miescher's method, and made free from albumen. They consisted of 

 protamin nucleate, having the formula C^^Hg^N^^P^Og 7, Cg^H^^N^^Og. 

 The nucleinic acid appeared identical with that of salmon sperm 

 (Miescher), although the protamin differed from salmon protamin as 

 shown by Kossel. The sperm tails consisted chiefly of a combination 

 of lecithin, Cholesterin, and albumen similar to, but not identical with, 

 similar constituents of salmon sperm tail. The tails contain no nuclein. 

 The heads contain no lecithin nor Cholesterin. Arbacia sperm con- 

 tained nucleinic acid but no protamin, instead of which a histon-like 

 body was present. It is probable that Arbacia sperm - chromatin is 

 an histon nucleate and more complex than fish-sperm chromatin. Neither 

 bull nor pig sperm contain protamin. Author suggests that the simpli- 

 city of fish-sperm chromatin is difficult to reconcile with Weismann's 

 hypothesis. 



Dr. Basheord Dean, in "Notes on Palaeospondylus", gave a 

 brief reply to Dr. Traquair's recent objections (Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 

 March 16, 1897). The author notes: 



1) That the radial - shaped markings of the type specimen are cer- 

 tainly part of the fossil, since they occur in a second specimen 

 now in the possession of Professor Stratford. 



2) That his broader interpretation of the "unpaired nasal opening" 

 (Traquair) as a naso-mouth ring (as in Myxine) was an inde- 

 pendent as well as a necessary one, as will appear in the full paper. 



3) That the view of the presence of the radial-shaped markings as the 

 probable basal supports of paired fins, the relations of Palaeo- 

 spondylus to the Marsipobranchs become even more hypothetical. 

 Dr. Matthew reported on the status of the Puerco fauna. A review 



of the Puerco fauna, based on Dr. Wortman's geological observations 

 in the field and the records kept by the American Museum collecting 

 parties, shows that the Upper and Lower Puerco beds do not contain 

 a species in common, and only three or four genera pass through. The 

 two faunas are entirely distinct. Dr. Wortman proposes to call the 

 upper beds the Torrejon formation, retaining the name Puerco for the 

 lower beds. 



Mixodectes, formerly supposed to be a primate allied to the 

 modern Chiromys, is a true Eodent in the first stage of evolution. 



