• MisceUaaeoua. 453 



ia that part of Franco must have been nearly the same as those 

 which exist now-a-days in certain tropical re^ioug. — Comptas liendus, 

 March 14, 187U, p. 537. 



Oh (he Pancreas ia Ojseoui Fishes, awl on the Nature of the J'essefs 

 discovered by Weber. By S. Legouis. 



The author indicates, in a few words, the history of our knowledj^e 

 of supposed pancreatic structures in the osseous fislies, and shows 

 that Use j'cars ago the pancreas had becu recognized only in two 

 species {Sitarus (jlanis aiid Esox laciwi), and supposed pancreatic 

 granulations in about a dozen more. Weber noticed two sj'stems of 

 canals of very ditferent appearance passing from the liver to the in- 

 testine in the carp, and imagined that the liver might fiunish bile 

 to one set and pancreatic juice to the other. Tliis interpretation 

 was rejected by C. Bernard, who, however, met with the double set 

 of canals in other species. 



The author commenced his researches in 18Go ; and he has ex- 

 amined 4'.i species, representing the principal families. He finds 

 that Weber's canals exist in all the osseous hshes ; they arc invisible, 

 like the middle lymphatics, in most species, but sometimes pearly 

 (carp, turbot). They constantly open into the duodenum, near 

 the gall-duct, and often by an ampulla. In some species with a 

 convoluted intestine they ac(juire a very elegant arborescent form 

 (bai'bel, pre)' mullet). Scarcely an intestinal sinus but receives 

 some brauchlet of this system ; it passes among the pyloric appen- 

 dages (dory, mackerel), associates its princiiml trunks with the 

 ductus choledochus, the splenic and mesenteric veins, and the portal 

 vein, which it follows into the mass of the liver. 



All the osseous fishes possess a pancreas, however its elements 

 may be dispersed, and the Plagiostomi have one similar in all re- 

 spects to that of other Yeiiebi'ata. Among osseous fishes the author 

 distinguishes the following three forms: — 



1. Disseminated pancreas. — Glandular globules dispersed through 

 the laminte of the peritoneum (barbel, lumpfish, sardine, sand- 

 smelt, loach, &c.). 



2. Diffused pancreas. — In this the pancreas is lamellar, and re- 

 sembles that of the rabbit, but forms a glandular web of very much 

 greater tenuit)\ It is diffused throughout the interstices between 

 the viscera, sometimes to such a degree (C'aran.v) that these are im- 

 mersed in a pancreatic mass. The author refere to the following 

 species among others as exhibiting this form of pancreas in various 

 modifications : — conger, gurnard, Sparus, and stickleback. 



3. Massive pancreas, resembling the organ in the higher Vertebrata 

 (^Silurus, pike, eel). 



The three forms are associated, at least two and two. Weber's 

 canals are the excretory ducts of the first two forms ; and every one 

 of their branches terminates in a gland. In many species the 

 pancreatic and hepatic glands are still in progress when the fish is 

 adult; this explains the apparent penetration of the pancreas into 

 the liver. — Comptes liendus. May 16, 1S70, p. lO'JS. 



Ann. <£• Mag. X. Hist. Ser. 4. Vul v. 31 



