August 6, 1908] 



NATURE 



327 



The articles in the first part of vol. xci. of Zeitschrift 

 jur wissenscliajtlichc Zoologie are all devoted to the 

 anatomy of invertebrates, and treat of subjects for the most 

 part interesting to the specialist. Mr. R. DemoU, for 

 instance, discusses the mouth-parts of solitary bees, while 

 the structure of the median eye of the ostracod crustaceans 

 forms the subject of a paper by Dr. M. Nowikoff, and 

 Mr. Walter Doring describes the structure and develop- 

 ment of the female reproductive organs of certain cephalo- 

 pods. 



A SYSTEMATIC monograph, by Dr. J. J. Tesch, of the 

 heteropodous molluscs included in the family Atlantidae, 

 with a list of the species represented in the museum collec- 

 tion, forms the subject of an article in the first part of 

 vol. XXX. of Notes from the Leyden Museum. The author, 

 who states that the group has received but little attention 

 for many years, recognises three genera, one of which is 

 for the first time named and described, the characteristics 

 on which these are based being drawn partly from the 

 shell and partly from the "animal." 



To the July number of the Zoologist Mr. S. M. Perl- 

 mann contributes a paper entitled " Is the Okapi Identical 

 with the ' Thahash ' of the Jews? " The word " thahash " 

 has been translated " badger " and " dolphin," but both 

 these readings are conjectural. The Talmudists, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Perlmann, considered it, however, to be a 

 ruminant, of a beautiful colour, with a single horn on 

 the forehead. To a great extent, apparently on account 

 of the presence of " a horn-like elevation at the root of 

 the nose " in the okapi, the writer of the paper identifies 

 it with that animal. Apart from the improbability of an 

 exclusively equatorial animal being known to Moses 

 (although the possibility of skins being imported from the 

 south into Egypt may be admitted), the Talmudists' de- 

 scription of the " thahash " does not accord with that of 

 the okapi, of which the males carry a pair of well-developed 

 horns on the forehead — a fact with which Mr. Perlmann 

 appears to be unacquainted. The slight swelling on the 

 nose of the female can scarcely be described as horn-like. 



Among the biological papers in the July issue of Science 

 Progress, special interest attaches to one by Mr. W. A. 

 Brend on tuberculosis in animals. After referring to the 

 fact that recent investigations on the subject have been 

 conducted on two lines — one into the effects produced on 

 animals by the bovine tuberculosis bacillus, and the other 

 by that of human tubercle — the author points out that the 

 animals forming the subject of experiment may be 

 arranged, according to their relative degree of suscepti- 

 bility to the human disease, in the following order, com- 

 mencing with those exhibiting the greatest approximation 

 to immunity, viz. rats and mice ; dogs ; cats ; pigs, goats, 

 and cattle ; rabbits ; and guinea-pigs, monkeys, and apes. 

 It will not fail to be noticed that the immunity is greatest 

 in those brought most closely into association with man. 

 In regard to the fact that rats and mice occupy the highest 

 position in respect to immunity, it has to be borne in mind 

 that although in the ordinary sense these creatures can 

 scarcely be regarded as domesticated animals, yet in a 

 scientific sense their association with man is extremely 

 intimate. They inhabit, for instance, his cellars and 

 sewers, and feed upon the infected sweepings of the streets 

 and pavements. It would be of great interest to ascertain 

 the degree of immunity presented by field-mice. 



Little by little we are learning that most of the 

 edentulous or partially edentulous mammals possess germs 

 or other vestiges of teeth in the earlier stages of their 



NO. 2023, VOL. 78] 



existence, and the importance of discoveries of this nature 

 can scarcely be overrated, since they are alone practically 

 sufficient to demonstrate the truth of the doctrine of evolu- 

 tion. The latest addition to the list of mammals with 

 such vestiges is the pangolin group (Manidae), the members 

 of which are completely devoid of teeth. According to a 

 paper by Dr. H. W. Marett Tims, published in vol. xlii., 

 part ii., of the Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, the 

 jaws of a foetus of one of these animals were found to 

 be provided with minute pointed outgrowths, which there 

 is every reason to regard as vestigial tooth-germs rather 

 than hair-follicles. Some of these structures arise from the 

 alveolar margin of the jaw, while others grow from the 

 outer side, and if they were hair-follicles some of the hairs 

 would fringe the alveolar margin, and others would grow 

 outwards into the substance of the cheek. So far as can. 

 be determined, the histological structure of these growths 

 suggests teeth rather than hairs. Assuming them to be 

 the former, they indicate that the formula of the vestigial 

 dentition is f^- or y'l, that the teeth in the middle of the 

 series were the largest, while all were apparently of a 

 simple peg-like type, recalling those of armadillos. 



The two recently published parts of the Annals of 

 Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (vol. ii., Nos. 2 and 3} 

 contain a number of memoirs of great interest. Drs. 

 Kinghorn and Montgomery report on the etiology and 

 prophylaxis of diseases caused by trypanosomes in man and 

 domestic animals in northern Rhodesia, and discuss in- 

 cidentally the vexed question of the relation of big game 

 to tsetse-fly disease. Messrs. Salvin-Moore and Breinl, 

 with the collaboration of Dr. Hindle, continue their investi- 

 gations upon the life-history of trypanosomes, and deal 

 with that of Trypanosoma lewisi, the parasite of the 

 common rat. A brief but pithy memoir by Dr. E. H. 

 Ross deals with the prevention of dengue fever, by destruc- 

 tion of mosquitoes, in Egypt. 



Amongst parasitic protozoa, the genus commonly named 

 Piroplasma, but more correctly Babesia, is one which has 

 attracted great attention by its pathogenic properties, and' 

 has also given rise to much discussion concerning its 

 systematic position, more especially as regards its relation- 

 ship on the one hand to the Haemosporidia, on the other 

 hand to the Flagellata. Major Christophers, in his recent 

 monograph on the development of Piroplasma in the tick, 

 was unable to find any flagellated stages. MiyaUma, 

 however, announced (Philippine Journal of Science, ii., 2)' 

 that he had obtained true trypanosome-forms in a culture 

 of a bovine Piroplasma. Drs. Breinl and Hindle state 

 that in dogs infected with P. canis they have found 

 biflagellate forms in small numbers in the peripheral blood 

 of dogs on the day before death (Ann. Trop. Med. 

 Parasitol., ii., 3). Their results appear to confirm the 

 views of Laveran and Mesnil as to the affinities of Piro- 

 plasma with the genus Leishmania, the parasite of kala 

 azar. 



A SECOND portion of the " Flora of Glamorgan," dealing 

 with the Calycifloras, has been issued under the editorship' 

 of Dr. A. H. Trow. Besides providing a full list of locali- 

 ties and the Welsh names, the critical notes appended by 

 the editor add to the interest of the work, and suggest 

 points that require further confirmation. It is noted that 

 Medicago sativa and Melilotus arvensis can flourish on 

 the sterile red marl, and Onobrychis viciaefolia thrives on- 

 the marl, but dies off in the second year on the Lias. 

 The gean is regarded as native to the county, but the 

 claims of the bullace and the dwarf cherry are considered 

 more dubious. The flora is being published as a supple- 



