186 EXTRACTS AND ABSTRACTS FROM FOREIGN JOURNALS. 



ferent hair they are more coloured or devoid of colour, or have long 

 pigment cells. 



Delia Chiaje on the appendages of the Kidnies in Fishes and Reptiles. 

 In Ammocatis branchialis and Petromyzon fluviatilis, they are placed on 

 the outer margin of the gland, near the ureter and the fatty bodies. In 

 Petromyzon marinus they cover the outer surface of the kidney, and in 

 Accipenser sturio and A, murcena they appear as round yellow bodies 

 incorporated with the parenchyma of the same. In Torpedo electrica, 

 T. galvanii, Squalus centrina, and C. acanthias, they constitute a semi- 

 lunar yellow granulated mass about the size of a large bean at the base 

 of the left portion of the kidney. In Raja rubus and R. batis, they lie 

 in the form of a Y along the middle line between the glands. 



The greatest development occurs in Squalus acanthias and S. mustelus. 

 In the flat tailed Salamander, along the edge of each kidney are seen 

 a row of round yellowish bodies composed of glandular acini. Rana 

 esculenta has in the middle of the under surface of the organ small 

 yellow glands composed of minute ramified vessels, and which are also 

 found in the green and the common Toad. These appendages of the 

 kidnies receive their arteries from the Aorta and four large veins from 

 the Vena cava. 



Valentin's remarks on Trichina spiralis. (Vide page 147 of the Mi- 

 croscopic Journal.) In specimens which have been preserved in spirit 

 I have not only observed the granular matter in the two poles of the 

 outer cyst, but also in the narrow space which appears to exist between 

 the outer and inner cyst and connecting as it were the two poles on all 

 sides. The outer cyst is probably a true organized envelope, whilst the 

 granules are rich in inorganic salts. If the cysts are acted on by weak 

 caustic bicarbonate of Potassa, the walls of the outer cyst appear as a 

 narrow bright stripe, whilst the granules remain dark. After being 

 acted on by Hydro- chloric acid, carbonic acid is evolved and all becomes 

 brighter and more transparent. In the latter case the skin of the inner 

 cyst sometimes exhibits concentric lines which, perhaps, indicate its 

 origin from concentric layers. The intestine and longitudinal thread 

 are distinctly visible in the preserved specimens. At the anterior ob- 

 tuse rounded extremity I several times observed an oval cavity, which 

 was probably the oral aperture alluded to by Owen and Wormald. 



The granular organ described by Farre and Bischoff, and which 

 appears to me a very doubtful ovarium, I could not discern in the 

 preserved specimens. Only once did I see it as a bright granular spot 

 after the action of the Hydro-chloric acid. 



[From Schlechtendal's Linnaa, 1842.] 



Bange on the Seed of Pugionium cornutum. That the outer covering 

 of the seed cannot be an arillus is evident enough if this plant is 

 regarded as a member of the Cruciferae. It must, therefore, be one of 



