April 30, 1908J 



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than 800 members. It is not an association of men of 

 science or of medical men alone ; its membership has been 

 drawn from all departments of public life. Lord Cromer 

 is the president, and a long list of vice-presidents includes 

 the names of men distinguished in most branches of in- 

 tellectual activity. The annual subscription is 5^., to cover 

 working expenses, but larger subscriptions or donations 

 will be gladly received. The acting honorary treasurer, 

 pro tern., is Mr. J. Luard Pattisson, C.B., of the Lister 

 Institute, and an account in the society's name has been 

 opened with Messrs. Coutts and Co., 440 Strand. The 

 honorary secretary is Mr. Stephen Paget, 70 Harlcy Street, 

 London, \V., to whom all communications should be 

 addressed. Lord Cromer, in a letter which has been 

 widely circulated in the Press, directs attention to the 

 immense importance to the welfare of mankind of experi- 

 ments on animals conducted with proper care, and 

 instances, among many results which have already followed 

 such investigations, the use of antiseptics, the modern 

 treatment of wounds, the invention of diphtheria antitoxin, 

 and the discovery of the causes of plague, cholera, typhoid 

 fever, and sleeping sickness. He also explains that the 

 society will endeavour to make it clear that scientific men 

 who perform experiments on animals are not less humane 

 than the rest of their countrymen who daily, though 

 perhaps unconsciously, profit by them. It is proposed to 

 give information to all inquirers, to publish precis, articles, 

 and leaflets, to make arrangements for lectures, and to 

 assist all who desire to examine the arguments on behalf 

 of experiments on animals. 



The structure of the epidermis and epidermal glands of 

 poisonous fishes forms the subject of an article by Mr. E. 

 Pawlowsky in Nos. 7 and 8 of the Comptes rendtis de la 

 Soc. Imp. Nat. de St. Petersbotirg for 1907. In addition to 

 the ordinary epidermal glands, poisonous fishes like the 

 weavers (Trachinus) are furnished with large serous glands 

 of a horny structure which secrete the harmful fluid. The 

 sting-rays (Trygon) have, however, a numerous series of 

 minute poison-glands in the tail. 



Recent papers received from America include an 

 elaborate account of the early stages in the development 

 of the Mississippi alligator, by Prof. A. M. Riese, issued 

 in vol. li. of Smithsonian Miscellaneous Contributions, and 

 illustrated with twenty-three plates. Also notes on 

 Guatemala birds, by Mr. N. Dearborn, and on fishes from 

 Mexico and Central America, by Mr. S. E. Meath, pub- 

 lished by the Field Museum of Natural History. Schizo- 

 pod crustaceans from Alaska form the subject of a paper 

 by Mr. A. E. Ortmann, published as No. 15(11 of the 

 Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum; while in No. 

 1594 of the same, Mr. A. S. Pearse describes four new 

 species of the amphipod group from the Gulf of Mexico, 

 and in No. 1593 Miss Richardson records the occurrence 

 of the parasitic isopod Leidya on an entirely new host. 



The first part of vol. vi. of the Annals of the South 

 African Museum is devoted to a fourth instalment of the 

 Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing's account of South .\frican crus- 

 taceans, of which the earlier parts were published in 

 " Marine Investigations in South Africa." In the present 

 part the author describes as new seven species and one 

 genus, but he takes occasion to point out that the most 

 interesting results of his investigations are not so much 

 novelty of characters in the new forms as the relationship 

 between these South African types and others long known 

 from remote parts of the globe. As an instance of this, it 

 is mentioned that the description of the new Cape prawn, 

 Lcontocaris paulsoni, had only been published a few 



NO. 20og, VOL. 77] 



months when the discovery of a second species of the same 

 specialised genus was announced in deep water off the 

 Irish coast. The paper is illustrated by fourteen plates. 



Fro.m the morphological standpoint, the rodent mammals 

 form an exceedingly compact and uniform group. From 

 the occurrence of the phenomenon known as inversion it 

 has been suggested, however, that, developmentally, the 

 murine section (Myomorpha) should be associated with the 

 Sabungulata, while the squirrel and hare groups (Sciuro- 

 morpha and Lagomorpha), in which inversion is absent, 

 should constitute a section or order apart. On the other 

 hand, it has been asserted that inversion, although most 

 developed in the Myomorpha and Subungulata, does also 

 occur in the other two groups, and the suggestion has 

 been made that all rodents agree in their early develop- 

 mental stages, although divergence takes place later. To 

 test this, Mr. A. Ochs, of Diisseldorf, has undertaken an 

 investigation of the intra-uterine development of the 

 hamster, the results of which are published in vol. Ixxxix., 

 part ii., of the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschajtUche Zoologie. 

 The conclusions with regard to the classification of rodents 

 are, however, deferred. 



One of the latest additions to the admirable series of 

 " Guide-books " issued by the natural history branch of 

 the British Museum is devoted to the elephant group, and 

 explains in precise and yet popular language the 

 wonderful story of proboscidean evolution revealed bv 

 recent discoveries in Egypt. The publication of such a 

 guide-book was rendered practically imperative owing to 

 the fact that the collection of proboscidean remains in the 

 museum is more extensive than any other in the world. 

 So large and so nearly complete is the collection that it 

 is possible for the visitor to see with his own eyes prac- 

 tically every link in the chain between the primitive 

 Egyptian Moeritherium, on the one hand, and the highly 

 specialised Indian elephant and mammoth on the other. 

 In the case of several of the early forms, complete models 

 of the skull have been recently installed in the geological 

 department. The interest of the series would be greatly 

 increased if a life-sized model of the head of the long- 

 chinned, four-tusked mastodon (Tetrabelodon angustidens) 

 were prepared and placed alongside the heads of modern 

 elephants. The guide, which is admirably illustrated, has 

 been prepared by Dr. C. W. Andrews, the great authority 

 on the group. 



A PAMPHLET on the preparation and use of anti-plague 

 vaccine has been issued by the Bombay Bacteriological 

 Laboratory. It gives details of the preparation of the 

 vaccine, and full directions as to the mode of inoculation. 

 Another pamphlet on the same subject, " The Cause and 

 Prevention of the Spread of Plague in India," a lecture 

 delivered by Captain Glen Liston, summarises in a com- 

 plete and interesting manner our knowledge of the parts 

 played by the rat and flea in the dissemination of plague. 



The first part has reached us of a new publication. 

 Parasitology, a supplement to the Journal of Hygiene, 

 edited by Prof. Nuttall, F.R.S., and Mr. A. E. Shipley, 

 F.R.S. Parasitology will include papers dealing with the 

 anatomy of mosquitoes, fleas, protozoa, and other para- 

 sites, which have only an indirect relation to hygiene and 

 preventive medicine. The present part is devoted to a 

 paper by Dr. Karl Jordan and the Hon. N. C. Rothschild 

 on a revision of the non-combed, eyed Siphonaptera, a 

 group of fleas to which that carrying plague belongs. 



The March number of the Journal of the Royal Sanitary 

 Institute (xxix.. No. 2) contains an important paper by 

 Dr. Rideal on the relative hygienic values of gas and 



