14 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



when injected into the veins beneath the skin, or in the general cavity 

 of the body, promptly cause the death of the rabbits, etc., which are 

 experimented with. In all cases the phenomena are those of acute 

 intoxication of the central nervous system. 



Venous System of Chelonia.* — F. A. Stromsten has studied the 

 structure and development of the venous system in various American 

 turtles. In general the development of the veins of the hepatic portal 

 and renal portal systems is the same in turtles as in lizards and snakes. 

 The detailed differences are discussed. Particular attention is paid to 

 the changes which the umbilical veins undergo, and their ultimate 

 relations to the abdominal veins. 



Regenerated Tail in Ptychozoon homalocephalum.t — Nelson 

 Annandale describes a case where the distal part of the tail has been 

 reproduced. The scales upon it are slightly smaller than those upon the 

 uninjured portion ; the dorsal tubercles are entirely absent ; the loose 

 membrane surrounding it is only about half as wide as is normal ; it is 

 asymmetrical, and not divided into lobes or expanded at the tip of the 

 tail. 



Taste Organs in Mouth of Crocodile. J — W. Bath describes in the 

 mucous membrane of the upper oesophageal region in Crocodilus 

 nilovicus, quite free from papillae, taste organs resembling those of 

 lizards. They have the form of a short stumpy pear, with their broad 

 base on the corium. A distinctly differentiated pore is not developed, 

 but a shallow depression is present out of which the sense-points 

 project. In these taste-buds, supporting-cells and rod-cells (Stiitz- und 

 Stiftchenzellen) are distinguishable. Interiorly to the taste-buds in the 

 corium is a mass of connective-tissue cells, whose function is probably 

 that of protection of the associated nerve-fibres. 



Relation of Jaw Muscles to Salivary Glands in Snakes. § — 

 P. K. Hager has examined a very large number of snakes, representing 

 24 different species, and gives a full account of their jaw musculature. 

 The mechanism of the poison-gland and its evacuation are fully discussed. 

 In the Uolubridge and Vipers emission is effected by the contraction of 

 the biting muscles. The most important as regards this function are 

 the masseter and the ligamentum zygomaticum. 



Habits of Sphagnum Prog. — H. W. Fowler has some interesting 

 notes on Rana virgatipes Cope, which lives amongst the sphagnum at the 

 mouth of Mare Run in New Jersey. The males are in full cry in late 

 April. When about to utter their call they inflate their vocal vesicles 

 till nearly spherical, and then allow the air to escape by jerks at intervals 

 of a second. Thus five or six raps are produced, and the sound is quite 

 startling because of its suddenness and volume. " The call bears con- 

 siderable resemblance to the noise produced by wood-choppers cutting 



* Amer. Journ. Anat., iv. (1905) pp. 453-85 (12 figs.). 



t Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, lxxiii. (1905) pp. 12-22. 



t Zool. Anzeig., xxix. (1905) pp. 352-3. 



§ Zool. Jahrb., xxii. (1905) pp. 173-224 (5 pis.). 



U Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1905, pp. 662-4 (1 pi.). 



