ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 659 



18 varieties, viz. Lepus timidus Linne, 4 varieties ; L. medius Nilsson, 

 5 varieties ; L. europceus Pallas, 7 varieties ; L. mediterraneus Wagner, 

 2 varieties. 



Abnormal Hoofs of Sheep.* — E. Warren describes and figures a 

 remarkable hoof of a Kafir sheep. As far as could be traced, the animal 

 was a cross between a Merino and an ordinary Kafir sheep. The hind 

 feet only were deformed, in that the hoofs were spirally twisted. This 

 does not appear to be altogether uncommon, but the special peculiarity 

 in this instance is that both hoofs of a foot coil in the same direction. 

 The slight spiral tendency in normal hoofs of a foot are in opposite 

 directions. Further, the rudimentary hoofs of the fetlock show a 

 distinct tendency to abnormal growth ; thus the causes which produced 

 the abnormality were effective over the whole foot. 



Hands of Japanese. t — Buntaro Adachi and Yaso Adachi have made 

 a comparative study of the skeleton of the hand in Japanese. Compared 

 with European bones, those of Japanese are shorter in the proximo- 

 distal direction, and relatively thicker. The articular surfaces are more 

 strongly curved, and more extended ; they are more rarely divided into 

 two, and the adjacent surfaces are more frequently in contact. In 

 women the articular surface is more curved and extended than in men. 

 The basal and terminal phalanges of the fingers are (relatively to the 

 total length) longer than in Europeans, the metacarpals and middle 

 phalanges shorter. The terminal phalanx is more delicate and pointed. 

 The authors seem inclined to correlate the differences of skeletal develop- 

 ment with differences of handiwork. Comparative investigations of the 

 skeleton in foetuses and children have still to be made. 



Angle of the Mammalian Jaw.J — C. Toldt has made an elaborate 

 study of the angular process of the mandible in different orders and 

 types of mammals — in its varied forms (papilla-like, plate-like, shovel- 

 like), proportions, and relations — with especial reference to the correlated 

 peculiarities in the development of the masticatory muscles. 



Testis of Batrachia.§— M. Nussbaum discusses various points in 

 connection with the testis and testis-cells in Batrachia. He gives a 

 description of this organ in Ranafusca, Triton alpestris, T. cristata, and 

 Salamandra maculata. His main thesis concerns the problem of the 

 influence of season and age, fasting and feeding, upon this organ, and 

 upon the significance of mulberry-formed nuclei in its cells. In the 

 Anura there is no part of the testis which acts as a reservoir for 

 the rebuilding up of the rest ; in the Urodela the development stages 

 of the different divisions of the organ are such that the number of the 

 lobes increases with the age of the animal. In fasting tadpoles (Bona 

 fusca), the development of the sex-gland is markedly greater than of 

 other parts, equal, in fact, to that of nourished larvae. In starved adults 

 the progress of development of the testis is arrested. 



* Annals Natal Government Museum, i. (1906) pp. 109-10 (1 pi.), 

 t MT. Med. Facultat Univ. Tokyo, vi. (1905) pp. 349-75 (3 pis. and 1 fig.). 

 X SB. Akad. Wiss. Wien, cxiv. (1905) pp. 315-476 (3 pis. and 18 figs.). 

 § Arch. Mikr. Anat., lxviii. (1906) pp. 1-121 (7 pis.). 



