Febeuaey 28, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



329 



of Sir John Herschel since the method has dis- 

 tinctly fallen into disfavor. 



Hostile criticism might easily select other 

 and similar matter for adverse judgment, but 

 much as the book is thus disfigured it remains 

 well worth the writing and the reading thereof. 



One feature remains which should not be left 

 unnoticed, since in some measure it serves to 

 correct false impressions elsewhere produced. 

 The active and fecund imagination of "William 

 Herschel called into existence a swarm of 

 fancies and hypotheses, some of which have be- 

 come integral parts of the fabric of modern as- 

 tronomy, while others have been consigned to 

 the intellectual rubbish heap. Types of each 

 class, the failure as well as the success, are pre- 

 sented to the reader, who, without the light 

 which they cast upon the mental characteristics 

 of the man, might well cry out, here is no flesh 

 and blood, but a demi-god set to unravel the 

 universe. G. C. C. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 



THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY. 



DECEMBER, DOUBLE NUMBER. 



On the Brain of Necturus maculatus. By B. F. 

 Kingsbury. A monograph of 65 pages, accom- 

 panied by 3 plates, gives the results of the ap- 

 plication of the newer methods of staining to 

 the difficult subject of the amphibian brain. 

 The following points are selected from the sum- 

 mary: 



1. As compared with certain smaller uro- 

 deles, the brain of Necturus is greatly elon- 

 gated. This appears to be due largely to a 

 greater inequality between the rates of growth 

 of the brain and skull. This is shown, it is 

 thought, especially by (a) the almost entire ab- 

 sence of a pons flexure, (6) the length of the 

 olfactory nerves, (c) the extent of the diatela. 



2. A callosum is considered to be entirely ab- 

 sent in the amphibian brain ; what has been 

 generally regarded as such is here thought to 

 be a hippocampal commissure, in part at least, 

 although the homology should be dependent on 

 comparative study. 



3. An olfactory tract upon the extreme ven- 

 tral surface of the cerebrum may be traced to 

 the region just caudad of the infundibulum, 

 presumably the region of the albicantia. 



4. The paraphysis is well developed and in 

 communication in the adult with the encephalic 

 cavities. The postparaphysis of some authors 

 is not regarded as a true evagination. 



5.1 The ental origins of the cranial nerves are 

 worked out more less completely. For general 

 results reference may be made to tables on 

 pages 179 and 191 of the text. In particular, 

 the motor portion of the facial nerve is shown 

 to have the same mode of origin as in the 

 majority, at least, of vertebrates. The first 

 two roots of the vago-glossopharyngeal group, 

 stated to be the representative of the lateral 

 nerve of 'fishes,' and the nerve termed 'dor- 

 sal seventh,' are composed of fibers of the 

 same appearance and terminate in the dorsal 

 region of the oblongata in the neighborhood of 

 the eighth nerve. 



6. Mauthner fibers were demonstrated in the 

 adult Necturus, Amhlystoma and Diemyctylus. 

 Amblystoma is a land form, hence there is no 

 direct correlation with an aquatic mode of life. 



7. Myelinic nerve fibres from the mesence- 

 phal pass to the ectal surface of the brain im- 

 mediately ventrad of the epiphysis; these may 

 possibly represent a parietal nerve. 



The Cortical Optical Centres in Birds. By Dr. 



LUDWIG Edinger. 



Dr. Edinger is continuing his interesting 

 studies on the phylogeny of the cerebral cortex. 

 He has previously maintained that the olfactory 

 nerve is the first to effect cortical connections 

 and that the cortex of the Ichthyopsida is ex- 

 clusively olfactory in function. He now finds 

 in the birds a tract which he names the tractus 

 occipito-tectalis, which puts the optic nerve into 

 similar relations with the cortex. This tract 

 becomes medullated some weeks after hatching, 

 exactly as in the mammals, where it has the 

 same termini. The appearance of this tract he 

 correlates with the remarkable visual powers of 

 birds. 



In an editorial note Prof. Herrick criticises 

 Dr. Edinger' s position with reference to the 

 evolution of the cortex. In particular he difiers 

 from Dr. Edinger' s opinion that the olfactory 

 function is the only special sense which enters 

 the psychic life of infra-avian vertebrates, but 

 believes that we have evidence that reptiles also 



