467 



bildungen in Speicheldrüsen nicht beschrieben worden. Da es sich 

 hier nun um gesunde Tiere handelte und da die geschilderten That- 

 sachen eben deswegen eines pikanten Interesses nicht entbehren, so 

 glaubte ich, obgleich ich den zur Lymphknötchenbildung führenden 

 Vorgang ursächlich zu erklären nicht im Stande bin , dennoch die 

 Befunde veröffentlichen zu sollen. 

 Berlin, 30. März 1898. 



Nachdruck verboten. 



The Neural Grland in Cynthia papulosa. 



By Maynard M. Metcalf. 

 With 3 Figures. 



The neural gland of Cynthia papulosa shows two interesting 

 features, one of quite general occurrence among the Ascidians, and 

 the other characteristic of the gland probably of all Tuuicates. As 

 they are not well known I wish briefly to describe them here. 



The gland in the species, as in all the Cynthiidae I have 

 studied, is epineural (Fig. 1). The elongation of the gland and its 

 lack of highly developed tubular outgrowths is characteristic of the 

 sub-family Cynthiinae. The gland consists chiefly of an enlarge- 

 ment of the duct (Fig. 2), its lumen being filled with disinte- 

 grating cells which have been proliferated from the 

 dorsal wall of the enlarged portion of the duct. The 

 disintegration of these cells forms the secretion of the gland (Fig. 3), 

 and is the method of secretion found in the neural gland of all simple 

 and compound Ascidians and Salpidae studied. Pending further 

 study of the remaining groups it seems safe to assume a similar 

 manner of secretion in the neural gland of all T u n i c a t a. I d o n o t 

 see howthis method of secretion can be reconciled with 

 the prevalent belief that the neural gland of Tunicates 

 is a renal organ. In the examination of many species I have 

 never found concretions in the gland. 



A second point of some interest is the fact that the gland is 

 prolonged backward and downward into the dorsal raphe (Fig. 1), 

 i. e. the median portion of the pharyngeo - cloacal partition. In 

 Cynthia papulosa this rapheal prolongation is unusually large, 

 but it is present, though less developed, in many other species, e. g. 



