476 Miscellaneous. 



In a verj' partial degree there may be found in man glandular 

 structures ^vhicli are comparable to these, with extra-glandular 

 papillarj- protuberances ; we maj- mention the glands of the cervix 

 uteri (Cornil) and those of the prostate (Regnauld). 



The cells vary according to the glands. We have stated that the 

 existence of serous glands was demonstrated by M. Ranvier. As a 

 general rule, the smallest glandules, those which are utricular, are 

 clothed with very narrow and greatly elongated caliciform cells, 

 comparable to the elements of the cutaneous mucous glands of the 

 frog. The glands of large size, which are situated at the base of 

 the tongue and in the j)haryngeal commissure, present a very 

 granular appearance after being treated with hsematoxylin ; some 

 are even opaque and fatty after being mounted in glycerine. We 

 have shown in another i)aper * that it was possible to prove the 

 mingling of aqueous and fatty secretions in the cutaneous glands of 

 birds. It is therefore not surprising that we should meet with this 

 fact again in a dermo-mucous gland. 



But this analogy with the sebaceous glands ceases if we consider 

 the excretory ducts. These are, as a matter of fact, clothed wdth a 

 cubic epithelium, which continues through the layers of the epithelium 

 of the mucous membrane, which are always very thick. The cells 

 composing this epithelial lining are longitudinally striated, as in 

 mammals, but their cytoplasm is much more opaque. The ducts are 

 very wide and not infrequently exhibit papillary protuberances. 

 They finally open with bell-shaped mouths at the bottom of the 

 folds of the mucous membrane. The contents of the ducts are 

 chiefly composed of desquamated cells, forming granular masses 

 which fix the reagents and have not the characters of a mucous 

 secretion, although the cells with which the glandular villi are 

 loaded are almost all ovoid and caliciform. 



The salivary glands of birds have therefore a special form, and 

 their cells appear to be charged with very complex functions, since 

 they secrete mucus, fermeuts, and fatty bodies. 



Summary of results. — 1. Salivary glands are abundant in birds, 

 although concealed beneath the mucous membrane. 



2. We must cease to class them according to the characters of 

 the salivar}' glands of mammals, and on the contrary compare them 

 with the glands of the lower vertebrates, as has akeady been stated 

 to be necessary by Wiedershcim and M. Ranvier. 



3. The tj'pe of the salivary glands is entirely similar to tlie 

 general type of glands in birds, which is very peculiar, of which the 

 structure, like the morphology, enables us to compare it with that 

 of reptiles, while removing it from that of mammals. Herein we 

 have a confirmation from the standpoint of general anatomy of 

 the resemblances long since established by zoologists between birds 

 and reptiles. — Gomiites Hendus Hehdvmadaires des Seances de la 

 Societe de Biologie, 9" ser. t. v. no. 12, March 31, 1893, pp. 3-19- 

 352. 



* A. Pilliet, " Note sur la jrlaude sebacee des oiseaux et sur le type 

 glandulaire dans cette classe de Vert6br^s," Socit5te Zoologique de France, 

 June 11.1889. 



