DECEMBER 15, 1899. ] 
photograph, perhaps, was that of a live fish 
with five just transformed lake lampreys 
attached. 
On some Heteropterous Insects formerly Respon- 
sible for Spider-bite Stories. L. O. How- 
ARD, Washington, D. C. 
This paper was published in full in Ap- 
pleton’s Popular Science Monthly for Novem- 
ber, 1899, pp. 31-42, under the title ‘Spider 
Bites and Kissing Bugs.’ 
Cave Animals, their Character, Origin and 
their Evidence for or against the Transmis- 
sion of Acquired Characters. Carn H. 
Ere@ENMANN, Bloomington, Indiana. 
Cave faunas bear the same relation to 
those of the neighboring regions that island 
faunas bear to those of neighboring conti- 
nents, but caves are not as a rule colonized 
by accident. As far as the vertebrate fauna 
is concerned only those types are repre- 
sented which in their epigean existence 
were negatively heliotropic, and caught 
their food under rocks, under logs and in 
crevices, the amblyopsid salamanders, rats, 
etc. A gradually disappearing light leads 
to an increase in the size of the eyes, viz. : 
nocturnal animals in general; whereas the 
gradual diminution of the use of the eyes 
leads to the reduction of their size and the 
simplification of their histological complex- 
ity whether light is present or not. 
The degeneration, if it takes place in the 
light, affects first the retina, then the diop- 
tric arrangement, and finally the purely 
passive structures, as the scleral cartilages. 
The lens, after it is once affected, degenerates 
much more rapidly than the other elements, 
and usually disappears before the other 
structures vanish. The evidence from the 
differential degeneration is for the trans- 
mission of disuse effects. The habits and 
structure of the species of blind fishes and 
the differential degeneration mentioned 
eliminate the possible influence of natural 
selection, panmixia compensation of growth 
SCIENCE. 
883 
principle, or germinal selection, as factors 
in the phylogenic degeneration of these eyes. 
Have we More than a Single Species of Blissus 
in North America? F. M. Weesstsr, 
Wooster, Ohio.» Published in the Amer, 
Nat., Oct., 1899, pp. 818-817. 
Aistivation of  Epiphragmophora Traskit in 
Southern California. Mrs. M. Burron 
Witramson, Los Angeles, California. 
This paper, read by title, described an ex- 
experiment with two Epiphragmophora traskii 
to ascertain how these snails suspended in 
the air would remain with the functions of 
digestion and respiration in a state of torpor, 
and also to compare their longevity with 
other helices of the same colony kept in a 
snailery in the garden. 
Natural Taxonomy of the Class Aves. R. W. 
SHUFELDT, Takoma, D. C. 
This paper, read by title only, briefly 
takes into consideration the origin of birds 
as a group, as evidenced by the structural 
organization of its living members, and a 
study of such fossil material as has fallen 
into the hands of science. An _ historical 
sketch is presented giving the main features 
of the various schemes of classification of 
the Class, in times past, by the best recog- 
nized authorities, with critical comments 
thereon. The peculiar difficulties attend- 
ing the classification of birds is contrasted 
with the problem as presented by other 
groups of the vertebrata. Such morpholog- 
ical characters as best subserve the purposes 
of avian taxonomy are examined into and 
compared, with brief notes upon their sig- 
nificance and value. A scheme of classi- 
fication of the Class Aves is presented 
wherein osteology has been the main ana- 
tomical system used, although by no means 
to the exclusion of the remainder of the 
bird’s structure. 
Notes on the Chick’s Brain. SusANNA PHELPS 
Gace, Ithaca, N. Y. 
A systematic review of the development 
