544 
NAT OCRE 
[ Oct. 1, 1885 
by M. L. Vialleton.—On the anatomical organisation of the 
urs in Cephalotus follicularis, by MM. Jules Chareyre and 
Edouard Heckel. 
BERLIN 
Physiological Society, July 31.—Prof. Fritsch spoke on 
the functions of the sebaceous glands, raising a protest against the 
conception, represented quite recently by Herr Unna, that these 
glands served only to lubricate the hairs, while the globiform 
glands, commonly called the sudoriparous glands, lubricated the 
skin and induced the formation of the subcutaneous fat, and 
that, finally, the perspiration was discharged by the sweat-pores, 
or, rather, the extreme ends of the straight canals into which the 
sweat found its way out from intercellular spaces through the 
stomata. A whole series of anatomical, histological, and physio- 
logical grounds were brought forward against this view both by 
the speaker and, in the course of the discussion on the subject, 
by Prof. Du Bois-Reymond, Prof. Waldeyer, Dr. Gad, and 
Dr. Lassar. All known observations and experiments were, on 
the contrary, they maintained, in favour of the view that the 
sebaceous glands provided fat for the skin, while the globiform 
glands had the production of sweat assigned to them.—Dr. 
Wey] reported on the results of a chemical examination of the 
cholesterin, the composition of which had not hitherto been 
ascertained, although this substance had been discovered more 
than a hundred years ago, and had since been traced in the 
most varied organs of the animal body and eyen in plants. 
The most searching investigation down to the present of cho- 
lesterin had been made by Herr Zwenger, who, by treatment 
with sulphuric acid and nitric acid, had found combinations 
which he had distinguished and chemically characterised as 
cholesterylene and cholesterone. By repeating these experi- 
ments Dr. Weyl had achieved much purer derivatives of the 
cholesterin, in particular chloric and bromic combinations, in 
very pure crystals, which rendered exact elementary analysis 
possible. This led to the result that the derivatives of cho- 
lesterin were found to be hydrocarburets belonging to the great 
class of the terpenes—that is, they were products of condensa- 
tion or polymerisations of the simple terpene (C;H,). Even 
though it were not yet possible to state precisely the number of 
the C;H, which had become polymerised in the several 
cholesterin derivatives, the speaker yet thought he had suffi- 
cient ground for assuming that the composition (C;H,)"H.O was 
the one proper to the cholesterin itself. Substances which, both 
by their reactions and their percentage compositions, were denot- 
able as terpenes, might also be obtained from the choleic 
acid, a circumstance which pointed to the more intimate 
relation between cholesterin and choleic acid.—Dr. Biondi 
communicated the results of an investigation carried out by him 
in the Institute of Prof. Waldeyer with a view to throwing light 
on the origin of the spermatozoids in the seminiferous canals—a 
question on which the views of physiologists were so widely 
divergent. By appropriate use of appliances for hardening, 
fixing, and colouring, among which the advantages of Flemm- 
ing’s fluid had to be mentioned with quite special prominence, 
Dr, Biondi arrived at results which corroborated none of the 
views formerly put forth, but which explained the earlier 
observed facts. In accordance with these results it had been 
endeavoured diagrammatically to distribute the contents of the 
seminiferous canals into columns, which, proceeding from the 
wall towards the central cavity, might be grouped into three 
layers. In the first stage of development, a stage always met 
with, in particular, in animals not yet ripe, the extreme layer 
lying on the wall of the canal consisted of round, primitive 
cells, the second layer, proceeding inwards, of round mother- 
cells, which were very rich in caryokinetic figures, and the third 
innermost layer consisted of a larger number of small round 
daughter cells. In a second stage of development observable 
in ripe glands the nucleus of the daughter cells were seen 
converted into spermatozoids, the exterior half of the nucleus 
becoming the head and the other interior half the middle 
part and tail of the spermatozoon. The protoplasm of the 
daughter cells took no part in this transformation, and enveloped 
the bodies of the spermatozoa, making them cohere into bundles 
from which the tails of the spermatozoa projected towards the 
central canal. These masses of protoplasm enveloping the 
bodies of the spermatozoa altogether resembled the figures 
described by the earlier observers as ‘‘ Spermatoblasten.” In 
this stage the above diagrammatically assumed column consisted, 
from the outside inwards, of the primitive cell, the mother 
cell, and the bundle of spermatozoa. In the next stage of deve- 
lopment the formation of the spermatozoa, arising always in the 
same manner from the nucleus of the daughter cells, was pushed 
farther outwards, so that the column now consisted of but one 
large round cell on the outside and bundles of spermatozoa on 
the inside. The formation of the seminal corpuscles advanced still 
further, and at last the whole column, as far as the wall of the canal, 
consisted of spermatozoa, the bodies of which were agglutinated 
into bundles by masses of protoplasm, their tails being directed in- 
wards. Primitive cells out of neighbouring columns now inter- 
calated themselves between the wall of the canal and the 
spermatozoa, pushing the latter towards the middle. By the 
development of the mother and daughter cells the spermatozoa 
were quite pressed and discharged into the central canal. The 
process thus described then began anew. It must, however, be 
observed that in nature there was no separation into columns 
and layers such as was here diagrammatically described. It 
was only for the sake of clear representation that the processes 
succeeding each other in time were thus exhibited as divided in 
space. Dr, Biondi had examined this structure of the semin- 
iferous canals, and this development of the spermatozoids in 
the bull, the swine, the cat, the rabbit, the guinea-pig, 
the rat, and other mammalia; and in all these cases he 
had found alike the same results. Prof. Waldeyer testified 
that Dr. Biondi had attained to these results quite independently 
and had communicated and demonstrated them to him as 
early as February of this year. It was only on his advice that 
Dr. Biondi had further examined a longer series of animals 
before publishing his results. A few days ago, continued Prof. 
Waldeyer, he had received a letter from Prof. Griinhagen in 
Konigsberg, in accordance with which he (Prof. Griinhagen) 
had attained to the same results on spermatogenesis as had Ur, 
Biondi, to whom, of the two independent discoverers, was due 
the title of priority.—Dr. Blaschko briefly explained a series of 
microscopic preparations he exhibited, which served to show 
that between the epidermis and the cutis there lay no cementing 
substance ; but just as it was long known that in the case of 
the epidermis cells they had processes grooving themselves 
digitately into one another, so here, too, the processes of the 
epidermis and cutis cells were seen to intertwine with one an- 
other and form a network, the meshes of which were particularly 
large in an cedematous skin.—Dr. Lassar demonstrated micro- 
scopic preparations of skin which he had excided from a patient 
suffering under lichen ruber. In the copious protoplasm (the 
exudation of the inflammation) surrounding the canals of the 
epidermis there were seen, after colouring with fuchsine and 
Bismarck-brown, an uncommonly large number of micrococci, 
distinguishing themselves particularly by their remarkable small- 
ness. 
CONTENTS 
North American Water-Birds .......... 
Letters to the Editor :— 
The New Star in Andromeda.—A. A. Common, 
F.R.S.; Geo.M.Seabroke; A. Ricco (//lustvated) 522 
The Proposed Change in the Astronomical Day.— 
A. M. D. Downing. .-..- -)2 ees 
A Tertiary Rainbow.—T. C. Lewis. . Part re 
A White Swallow.—Alex. Anderson; Hubert 
Airy; J. Li. Bozward ©. . ) = eee 
The Annual Congress of the Sanitary Institute of 
Great Britain 2.2 . 2 59s a 47 o5e) ey 
Insect Ravages 2. i 293 27 209 fonseeeet neg 
American Agricultural Grasses. By Prof. W. 
Fream 2.2 5 53. 2. 5. so ts) ce tal a 
The Development of the Cecilians. ....... 526 
The British Association :— 
ReportS’ | 5 0.56 “ey ee wet ees © een eS 2 
Section A—Mathematics and Physics. . . .. ++ 533 
Section B—Chemistry .). - 1.95 (4 -) eee SO 
Notes*. 0. 5 2 6 «cele we ce) | oe 6) Se ya 
Astronomical Phenomena for the Week 1885, 
October 4=10'.00 5) 6 ie = fe Leet fe fe ee eg 
Heredity %., 2... «© (yc se soy feueiiciiee tees tnre nace me mE 
University and Educational Intelligence ..... 543 
Societies and. Academieésis, 3. =... + «@ < =) asa 
