4.00 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 
Excavations on Roman Sites in Britain.—Interim Report of the 
Committee, consisting of Professor W. Boyp Dawkins (Chairman), 
Professor J. L. Myres (Secretary), Sir Epwarp Braproog, Dr. T. 
Asusy, Professor R. C. Bosanquer, and Professor W. RIDGEWAY, 
appointed to co-operate with Local Committees in Excavations on 
Roman Nites in Britain. 
THE Committee have been in communication, as in former years, with 
those who are responsible for excavations on Roman sites in Britain, and 
have received satisfactory reports as to the results of the work which its 
previous grants have permitted to be undertaken. 
The early date of this year’s meeting, and other circumstances, have 
prevented the Committee from assigning definitely the grant made at the 
York meeting to the excavations planned for the summer and autumn of 
1907 ; but the Committee are satisfied that the grant may be expended 
profitably in continuation of work actually begun, apart from the question 
of fresh subsidies, 
The Committee therefore ask to be reappointed, with the unexpended 
balance 15/. and a further grant. 
The Ducetless Glands.—Report of the Committee, consisting of Pro- 
fessor SCHAFER (Chairman), Professor SwALE VINCENT (Secretary), 
Professor A. B. MacaiLum, and Dr. L. E. SHorE. (Drawn up by 
the Secretary.) 
Durine the past year attention has been directed to the islets of Lan- 
gerhans in the elasmobranch fishes, and the study of the pancreatic 
elements in these animals has, we believe, shed fresh light on the question 
as to the morphology of the islets of Langerhans. 
The groups of lightly staining cells arranged here and there around the 
smaller ducts of the elasmobranch pancreas represent the primitive type 
of islet structure in vertebrates. 
The intimate relation between duct and secreting cavity is of such a 
nature that it is not always possible to draw any hard-and-fast line 
between the individual! cells of the two structures. This has been pointed 
out by Laguesse in the case of the ophidians and the teleostean fishes. 
The developmental and structural relationship between ductules and 
‘clear areas’ or islets in elasmobranchs has been fully recognised by 
Diamare, Laguesse, Helly, and other observers. The work of Laguesse, 
Dale, and ourselves upon the islets of various groups of vertebrates has 
shown a similar relationship between islets and zymogenous tubules. In 
elasmobranchs, and especially in Mustelus, we see exemplified in a very 
interesting manner a primitive state of affairs in which ductule, islet, and 
zymogenous tubule reveal themselves as portions, variably modified, of 
the same morphological entity. Thus the connection between ‘ clear 
areas’ or islets and ductules is obvious, or at any rate very readily per- 
ceived. The external layer of cells of the ductules can be seen to be 
gradually merged into the zymogenous tubules, and occasionally typical 
zymogenous cells can be seen scattered among the cells of the ductules, 
