6o 



NA TURE 



[November 15, 1900 



when the peculiarities due to this specialisation are dis- 

 counted, its affinities appear to be with the Seriema and 

 Trumpeter of Brazil. It is, in fact, a gigantic represent- 

 ative of that group, occupying the same position in 

 aregard to its living allies as is held by the extinct 

 "Glyptodons and Ground-Sloths of the same continent 

 to the modern Armadillos, Sloths, and Anteaters. 



Among works dealing with avian faunas which have 

 appeared recently, two have a special claim for mention 

 on this occasion ; the one being Dr. A. B. Meyer's 

 " Birds of Celebes," and the other the late Mr. A. C. 

 Stark's " Birds of South Africa." Both of these im- 

 portant works have received detailed notice in these 

 columns. 



From a distributional point of view, undoubtedly the 

 most important discovery that has been made of late 

 years among Reptiles is the determination of remains of 

 the Australian Tertiary Chelonian genus Miolania in 

 the Patagonian deposits, which was announced last year 

 in this journal by Dr. H. P. Moreno. It serves not only 

 to emphasise the evidence which has been adduced from 

 other sources as to a former land connection between 

 Australasia and South America, but also indicates that 

 the strata in which its remains occur must be compara- 

 tively modern. Of very high morphological value are 

 Mr. A. Dendy's observations {QJ. Micr. Soc, 1899) on 

 the parietal eye of the New Zealand Tuatera (Spheno- 

 don), in which evidence is brought forward to show that 

 this organ was originally double, and that the single eye 

 that now persists in a rudimentary condition is the 

 left one of the primitive pair. In connection with 

 >this subject attention may be here directed to the 

 remarkable discovery, made by Mr. H. M. Bernand, 

 that in the Amphibia the cones of the retina 

 •of the eye, instead of being separate sensor organs, 

 are merely stages in the development of the 

 •structures known as rods. But we have still another 

 word to say with regard to the Tuatera, Prof. G. B. 

 Howes having been recently engaged in working out the 

 ■development of the skeleton in the embryo, and having 

 had the good fortune to hatch specimens in this country. 

 From his own researches, and those of Mr. Dendy, it is 

 now known that there were three pairs of incisor teeth in 

 the young* state, and also that an amniotic tube was 

 present, and that the olfactory passages became occluded 

 ■during development. 



Among Fishes several discoveries and observations of 

 first-class importance have been made during the last 

 few years, in addition to much systematic work. The 

 •discovery of a new species of freshwater fish belonging 

 to the genus Galaxias at the Cape may not appear a 

 circumstance of much importance, but it really forms one 

 more Imk between the faunas of South Africa, Austra- 

 lasia and South America ; the genus having previously 

 4)een known only from the two regions last named. Allied 

 to this genus is the family of African Beaked Fishes 

 (Mormyridas), hitherto known only by numerous species 

 of the typical genus Mormyrus, and one of the very 

 'distinct Gymnarchus. The careful exploration of the 

 fauna of the Congo by the officials of the Free 

 -State has, however, led to the discovery of the ex- 

 istence of a very large number of distinct generic types 

 of this very curious family, all of which have been 

 •examined and described by Mr. G. A. Boulenger. The 

 .first living examples of the Bichir (Polypterus) have also 

 been recently brought to this country, and much informa- 

 tion has been at the same time acquired with regard to 

 its mode of life and development. Of still more im- 

 portance are Mr. J. G. Kerr's observations on the 

 ■external features in the development of the South 

 American Mud-fish {Lepidosiren paradoxa), which were 

 •communicated to the Royal Society in the spring of 1899. 

 The young larvae of this fish, which are tadpole-shaped, 

 iiave very large external gills, and also a cement-organ 



NO. 1620, VOL. 63] 



very similar to that of embryo frogs, and Mr. Kerr was 

 much struck with the extremely amphibian characters of 

 the larvae at an early stage of their existence. Among 

 new forms special interest attaches to the discovery of a 

 Shark {Mitsurikina owstoni) in Japanese waters, which 

 indicates not only an entirely new generic type, but also, 

 according to its describer. Dr. Jordan {Proc. Californian 

 Academy, 1898), likewise a distinct family, whose nearest 

 relationships are with the Carchariidae. Equally inte- 

 resting is the discovery in Chili of a new generic type of 

 Lamprey {Macropthabnia chilensis), which was announced 

 in 1897. The importance which Dr. Gaskell, in his 

 papers on the origin of Vertebrates, attaches to larval 

 lampreys from a phylogenetic point of view renders the 

 discovery of a new member of this group full of possi- 

 bilities. 



It is too early at present to speak of the discoveries 

 which are likely to occur from the detailed examination 

 of the fishes of the Nile which is now in progress, but 

 reference must be made to those from Lake Tanganyika, 

 described by Mr. Boulenger {Trans. Zool. Soc.) in 1898. 

 Although these yielded several new generic and specific 

 types, they were in nowise comparable to the molluscs in 

 general interest. 



These latter, as is now well known, exhibit a re- 

 markable resemblance in the form of their shells to certain 

 Jurassic Gastropods ; a resemblance which has led Mr. 

 J. E. S. Moore, the energetic explorer of its waters, to sug- 

 gest that the lake was formerly in direct communication 

 with the sea, and that its so-called "halolymnic" fauna is of 

 marine origin. Some support to this theory may possibly 

 be found in the recent discovery that a peculiar type of 

 Jelly-fish is one of the inhabitants of the lake. 



Three other discoveries among Invertebrates call for 

 special mention ; one of these being the demonstration 

 by Dr. Pelseener that adult bi-valve molluscs may 

 possess true cephalic eyes, and the second the dredging 

 in Indian waters of a hermit-crab {Chlaenop'agurus 

 andersoni), whose caudal extremity is protected by a bag 

 formed out of a compact colony of small sea-anemones — 

 truly a most extraordinary example of commensalism. 

 The third discovery is that of a new member {Harri- 

 manid) of the group of Chordate Worms, or Enfero- 

 pneusta, on the Alaskan coast, to which reference has been 

 recently made in these columns. 



So far as the interests of the human race are concerned, 

 all other recent zoological discoveries are eclipsed by the 

 investigations which have led to the demonstration of the 

 relations existing between mosquitoes of the genus Ano- 

 pheles and malaria. A definite statement that malaria 

 is propagated by these annoying insects was made by 

 Dr. B. Grassi {Rend. Ac. Lincei, vii. p. 234) in 1898, 

 with due acknowledgment of previous suggestions on 

 the subject ; and since that date the columns of this 

 journal have borne testimony to the zeal and care with 

 which the work has been carried on, and the decisive 

 results which have been obtained. In connection with 

 this subject, brief mention must be made of the dis- 

 covery of the generative elements in the intracorpuscular 

 amoeba-like bodies known as Ha;mamoubidas, which occur 

 in the blood of certain animals and give rise to malarial 

 fever, as well as in the allied Coccidiidas, which are 

 parasitic in Cuttle-fish. As is shown in two papers 

 published in the July number of the Quart. Journ. Micro- 

 scopical Science, sexual conjunction, or " zygosis," occurs 

 among these lowly organisms ; spermatozoa being repre- 

 sented by " microgametes," and ova by " macrogametes." 

 Finally, some reference must be made to the important 

 work on distribution which has been accomplished during 

 the last few years. In this connection it will suffice to 

 refer to Mr. R. F. Scharff's "History of the European 

 Fauna " ; to Mr. W. L. Sclater's papers on the " Geo- 

 graphy of Mammals," first published in the Geographical 

 Journal, and reproduced in volume form with much 



