September 7, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



297 



secured, thus promising earlier relief than 

 by the other method. 



On the Connections of the Funicular Nuclei 

 of the Brains of Fishes: C, Judson Her- 

 KiCK, Denison University. 

 In those teleosts which possess elabo- 

 rately developed taste bud systems in the 

 outer skin, we find that the entire taste 

 bud system of nerves, including nerves 

 from sense organs in the mouth and 

 pharynx and also from similar organs in 

 the outer skin, is very intimately connected 

 with the viscero-motor nervous apparatus, 

 as was to have been expected. But the 

 terminal nuclei of the nerves from taste 

 buds in the outer skin, which unquestion- 

 ably belong morphologically to the visceral 

 sensory system, have extensive additional 

 sensory connections with distant motor cen- 

 ters of the somatic type. These long reflex 

 gustatory paths are of relatively recent 

 phylogenetic origin and in some teleosts 

 are very elaborately developed. The con- 

 nections in the mid-brain of the ascending 

 secondary gustatory path I have described 

 in a previous communication. In this 

 paper I have analyzed the descending sec- 

 ondary gustatory path and found that in 

 its further course and connections in the 

 funicular nucleus region it has all of the 

 functional characteristics of a somatic re- 

 flex arc— from cutaneous organs of taste to 

 somatic muscles. This is a point of consid- 

 erable theoretical interest as a concrete 

 illustration of the way in which the most 

 rigid morphological lines may be crossed 

 by the exigencies of functional adaptation. 



The HacMed Band in the Wehs of Certain 

 Spiders: J. H. Comstock, Cornell Uni- 

 versity. 



It is well known that those spiders which 

 possess a cribellum and a calamistrum spin 

 two kinds of silk: one, a simple smooth 

 thread of the ordinary type, and another 



that presents a curled appearance. Photo- 

 micrographs of the silk of representatives 

 of three families of cribellate spiders were 

 presented. In each the characteristic silk 

 consists of a ribbon-like structure which, 

 on account of the manner in which it is 

 made, may be termed the hackled band. 

 In each case the hackled band consists of 

 two elements: a series of longitudinal 

 threads, which may be termed the warp, 

 and a sheet of viscid silk supported by the 

 warp, which may be termed the woof. In 

 the hackled band of Ulohorus and Hypti- 

 otes the warp consists of two straight 

 threads, and the woof of an exceedingly 

 regular series of overlapping lobes. In the 

 hackled band of Amaurohius the warp con- 

 sists of four threads. Two of these lie in 

 the central portion of the band; they are 

 straight and parallel. The other threads 

 extend, one along the middle of each lateral 

 half of the band, and are curled. These 

 four threads support a sheet of viscid silk, 

 the woof. The woof has a wavy outline, 

 but does not consist' of a regular series of 

 lobes, as in the Uloboridse, In the hackled 

 band of Filistata there are four kinds of 

 silk. First, a double supporting linej sec- 

 ond, the primary looped threads; third, 

 the secondary looped threads; fourth, the 

 woof of viscid silk. 



The Divided Eyes of Blepharocera tenu- 

 ipes Walker: Wm. A. Riley, Cornell 

 University. 



The physiology of the divided eyes of 

 Blepharocera tenuipes has been discussed 

 by Kellogg, but aside from incidental men- 

 tion nothing concerning their morphology 

 has been published. The facets of the 

 dorsal eye average forty microns in diam- 

 eter, those of the lateral eye twenty-four 

 microns. Both eyes are clothed with hairs, 

 usually one at each facet angle, rarely two. 

 In section the dorsal ommatidia are about 

 three times the length of the lateral. Un- 



