[352] 
ON THE 
NERVOUS SYSTEM AND SENSE ORGANS 
OF AMIURUS. 
BY PROF. R. RAMSAY WRIGHT, TORONTO, 
[Read before the Canadian Institute, January the 12th, 1884. | 
In the course of the investigations, the results of which are de- 
tailed in the following pages, some features in connection with the 
nervous system and sense organs of Amiwrus appeared to me of 
special interest. These have been elaborated at the expense of other 
points which would prove no doubt equally worthy of closer exami- 
nation, but which did not at first sight appear so promising as fields 
of enquiry. The treatment is consequently not monographical, 
although for the sake of completeness a short account has been in- 
serted of some structures which have not been subjected to special 
study. 
Of the sense organs, the olfactory does not appear to be either 
more or less developed than is usual in Teleosts. The eyes on the 
other hand are extremely small, a condition which is compensated 
for by the exquisite development of tactile sensibility on the head and 
especially on the barblets. The latter serve to increase the range of 
the tactile sense ; especially is this the case with those which are car- 
ried on the ends of the modified superior maxillary bones, for their 
muscular connections enable them to be swept freely at the sides of 
the head. Also, the auditory organ and the sense organs lodged in 
the canals of the lateral line and head are well developed, and the 
former is connected with the air-bladder in such a manner as to indi- 
cate functional relationships of the highest importance. 
The importance of these sense-organs is sufficiently indicated by the 
large size of the nerves distributed to them, and the central connec- 
tions of the latter naturally determine many peculiarities in the 
architecture of the central nervous system. Considerable space is. 
