Jan. 27, 1876] 



NATURE 



257 



By a curious coincidence, intelligence has just reached us of 

 the safe arrival in Auckland, New Zealand, of 40,000 salmon 

 eggs from ihe Columbia River, North-west America. These 

 eggs were sent from San Francisco by steamer, consigned to the 

 " "apier Acclimatisation Society ; but on arrival at Auckland 



:ey were found to be so far advanced that it was determined not 

 to risk sending them all to Napier, but to distribute them imme- 

 diately in suitable localities in the neighbourhood. One half was 

 thus treated, and the remaining 20,000 were sent on to their 

 ori ginal destination, Napier. There is every probability that an 

 actual colony of salmon has now been planted in New Zealand, 

 for the fry were in a very healthy condition, and great care was 

 taken by Mr. Firth to protect those placed in the rivers from all 

 possible enemies. 



The last issued number of the Transactions of the Institute of 

 Engineers and Shipbuilders of Scotland contains a paper, by 

 Prof. James Thomson, on "Comparison of Similar Structures 

 as to Elasticity, Strength, and Stability." 



In a report published by General Chanzy, Governor-General of 

 Algeria, it appears that the organisation of a sanitary service has 

 been completed all over a country which is larger than Great 

 Britain. In every district has been established a meJecin de 

 colonisation, who is appointed after having passed a special exa- 

 mination, is paid by Government, and is not allowed to take 

 fees. 



A PAPER on the Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica, ^^-ith 

 notes on the reptiles of Nicaragua and Peru, by Prof. Cope, 

 has recently appeared in the quarto journal of the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences. Most of the Costa Rican ma- 

 terials were obtained from the researches of Dr. William M. 

 Gabb, who was engaged for several years in exploring thaj 

 country in behalf of the Costa Rican Government, by which he 

 has added very largely to our knowledge of the geography 

 geology, general natural history, and ethnology of the region 

 He has already published many papers in all these departments 

 and it is to him we owe our only reliable information in regard 

 to the Costa Rican aborigines. The first series of the collec- 

 tions made by Dr. Gabb have all been presented by him to the 

 National Museum, in Washington, and they constitute a highly 

 valued portion of the extensive collections of the establishment. 

 Other collections employed in this memoir are those of Dr. Van 

 Patten and Mr. C. N. Riotti, these coverbg the region extending 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Eighty-nine species were fur- 

 nished by Prof. Gabb, of which thirty-seven were new to science. 

 The total number of species known from all investigators in 

 Costa Rica is 132, and it is probable that a large number yet 

 remain to be discovered, showirg that the region is rich in ter- 

 restrial cold-blooded vertebrates. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Leopard (_Felis pardns) from Africa, pre. 

 sented by Mr. F. Elton ; a Black Lemur {Letnur macaco) from 

 Madagascar, presented by Mr. Dugald Gilchrist ; a Common 

 Marmoset {Hapale jacchits) from Brazil, presented by Master F. 

 F. Goodliffe ; two Gannets {Sula bassana), European, presented 

 by Lieutenant-Colonel Dugmore ; a Rose Hill Parrakeet [Platy- 

 ccrcus eximius) from New South Wales, presented by Mr. J. 

 Smith j a Roseate Cockatoo (Cacaiua rosdcapilla) from Australia, 

 presented by Dr. Bree ; three Brazilian Caracaras (Polyborus 

 hrasiliensis) from South America, deposited ; a Coypu Rat 

 {Myopoiamus coy pus), a Spotted Cavy {Calogenys paca), a Central 

 American Agouti {Dasyprocta punctata') from South America, a 

 White-spotted Crake {Porzana notata) captured at sea off Cape 

 Santa Maria, three Geoffroys Terrapins [Platemys geo^royana) 

 from the Argentine Republic, a Maximilian's Terrapin (Hydro- 

 medusa maximiliani) from Brazil, purchased. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The current number of the Quarterly yournal 0/ Microscopical 

 Science commences with a memoir, by Dr. G. Thin, on the 

 structure of hyaline cartilage as found by immersing it in a solu- 

 tion of caustic potash at 107° F., and othervrise. A successful 

 potash preparation shows flattened polygonal cells adhering to 

 each other exactly like an epithelium. Much manipulatory ex- 

 perience is necessary for the demonstration of these, and it must 

 be mentioned that the author has " a strong conviction of the 

 tmiformity of plan in the general structure of the tissues." — Mr. 

 Hugh Price writes on a polystomatous condition of the hydranths 

 of Cordylophora iacustris, and figures his specimens. His obser- 

 vations tend to show that the polystomatous condition may be 

 due to injury of the parent hydranth. — Prof. E. R. Lank ester, 

 F. R. S., contributes two papers ; the first, including further ob- 

 servations on a peach, or red-coloured Bacterium (Bacterium 

 rubescens), in which a further account of that organism is given. 

 The second is a valuable account of Prof. Haeckel's recent addi- 

 tions to the Gastroea-theory, illustrated by four important plates 

 exemplifying the letterpress. The following terms are fully ex- 

 plained : Palingeny and Cenogeny, the tendency to recapitulation 

 and to suppress the details of ontogenetic development ; Hetero- 

 chrony and Heterotopy, the perturbations in ontogeny as regards 

 time and space. The conceptions with which these terms are 

 associated must be fully mastered by all who study evolution 

 from its developmental aspect. The four chief types of egg- 

 cleavage and of Gastrula-formation are then explained, and the 

 stages which each undergo, the monerula-, cytula-, morula-, 

 blastula-, and gastnila-stages are recounted, the prefixes archi-, 

 amphi-, disco-, and peri- being applied to the four respectively. 

 The nomenclature, though at first apparently formidable, much 

 simplifies this otherwise complex subject. — Mr. C. S. Tomes, in 

 writing on the developmenc of teeth, gives a summary of the 

 many and important results at which he has arrived in his valuable 

 researches, together with the investigations of others which bear on 

 the subject. Gcodsir's primary open dental groove is shown to have 

 no existence. In reality an ingrowth is shown to develop from the 

 deep layer of the epithelium, consisting of a double layer of cells bur- 

 rowing down into the submucous tisssue, and lookirg in transverse 

 section like a tubular gland. The next stage consists of an active 

 growth of cells in the deepest end cf the epithelial inflection, the 

 immediately subjacent tissue at almost the same time becoming 

 elevated at corresponding points where teeth are to be developed ; 

 the subjacent tissue forming a conical papilla, the enamel organ 

 appearing with ot even before t.ie papilla. Many important 

 points in the tooth-development of the lizard and fish are also 

 discussed. — Dr. Percival Wright has a note on Steiiogramma in- 

 terrupta, in which the author proves that the tctrasporic fuiit 

 of that rare and beautiful Alga was described by Dr. W. H. 

 Harvey, contrary to the assertion of Mr. E. M. Homes. — Mr. 

 W, Bevan Lewis describes the best methods of making prepa- 

 rations of sections of cerebral and cerebellar cortex ior micro- 

 scopical examination. — Mr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., hssapaper on 

 the evolution of Hzemoglobin, based mainiy on the fact that the 

 centres of the haemoglobin bands from the r^d blood of Planarbis 

 lie two and a half or three millionths of a millimetre nearer the 

 blue end of the spectrum than do those of vertebrate blood. — 

 Reviews of Dr. Klein's " Anatomy of the Lymphatic System," 

 Part II., and of the English translation of Frey's "Histology 

 and Histochemistry of Man," are also given, followed by notes, 

 proceedings of societies, &c. 



The number for July 1875 of Siebold and Kolliker's Zeitschri/t 

 /iir Wissenschaftliche Zoologie opens with a valuable contribution 

 by Dr. Claus, to our knowledge of the parasitic Copepoda, under 

 the following headings : — The genus Hersilia ; the classificatory 

 value of the oral apparatus ; the Ergasilidte ; the Nereidico- 

 lida: ; the Ascidicolidoc ; the Siphonostoma, and the genus 

 Lamproglena. Several excellent plates illustrate the paper. 

 Dr. Claus concludes that a natural classification is at present 

 impossible, because of the gaps in our knowledge of many points 

 in the organisation and development of these remarkable para- 

 sites. — Dr. Ludwig Stieda gives a detailed description of the 

 general and microscopic structure of the brain and spinal cord in 

 the Chelonia, derived from the examination of Testudo Graca and 

 Efnys Europcea — a much-needed acquisition. — Dr. Ludwig Graff 

 describes several new species of Turbellaria. — O. Biitschli, in a 

 controversial article on the Infusoria, contests the received inter- 

 pretations of the phenomena following their conjugation, and 

 endeavours to show that Hackel and Claus have made no real 



