March 20, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



449 



so closely to the axis-eylinder. They are 

 also found to contain a fcAV granules. 

 After one or two days it is found that 

 the two cut ends of many of the nerves 

 have united together by a protoplasmic 

 bridge, and in such cases the degenera- 

 tion of the peripheral part of the axis- 

 cylinder is immediately arrested, indicating 

 that in these larvte a primary healing of 

 nerve fibers is possible. The medullary 

 sheath is not rehabilitated immediately 

 and the process of re-formation of this 

 structure resembles that of its initial de- 

 velopment. When the peripheral portion 

 of a nerve fails to unite with a central 

 stump, degeneration continues and ulti- 

 mately the nerve disappears, the finer 

 twigs disintegrating first. When a cen- 

 tral stump fails to unite with a peripheral 

 end, regeneration by a comparatively slow 

 process, in a centrifugal direction, takes 

 place. There is no indication whatever of 

 any power of "auto-regeneration" in the 

 nerves whose connection with the central 

 end remains severed. 



Some Singular Cases of Regeneration and 

 Increase in a Deep-sea Coral hy Agamic 

 Endogenesis: Addison E. Veerill, Tale 

 University. 



The paper considered a cornucopia-shaped 

 simple deep-sea coral, dredged by the U. 

 S. Fish Commission in 57 to 179 fathoms, 

 off the eastern coast of the United States. 

 It was first described by Pourtales as 

 Parasmilia Lymani (now Dasmosmilia) . 

 The walls of this coral are extremely thin 

 and fragile, while the radial septa are 

 strong. Therefore, when injured, it easily 

 splits lengthwise into wedge-shaped frag- 

 ments. Entire adult specimens are rarely 

 taken. The larger fishes and crabs, living 

 in deep water, are responsible for the 

 breakages. Each fragment, even when very 

 small, has the power to produce one or 

 more buds on its inner surface, from the 



tissues covering the septa. If a single bud 

 starts near the distal edge of a large frag- 

 ment, it ultimately grows in such a way 

 as to blend on the outer side with the 

 wall and septa of the fragment, so as to 

 appear, sometimes, like a mere repair of 

 damages, with regulation of parts. But 

 when the bud starts farther from the edge 

 of the fragment, it may grow up vertically 

 from it, later using it only as an object 

 for its basal attachment. Several buds, 

 sometimes as many as 6 to 8, may arise 

 from the inner surface of a large frag- 

 ment, gi'owing up vertically or obliquely. 

 If several buds start close together, they 

 soon come in contact at their edges, as they 

 grow larger, and graft themselves together, 

 thus giving rise to bilobed or trilobed 

 ealicles in the mature corals, but when the 

 buds stand singly, the ealicles are circular. 

 About one hundred specimens were 

 studied, and of these there were very few 

 that did not originate as buds, showing 

 the fragment of the parent caliele still 

 attached to the base. 



In this coral there is, therefore, a 

 gradual transition from the mere repair of 

 an injury to the border of the caliele (or 

 regeneration of parts) to complete and 

 perfect buds. These various forms were 

 illustrated by lantern slides. 



Some Results of a Biometrical Study of 

 Egg Production in the Domestic Fowl: 

 Raymond Pearl and F. M. Surface. 

 This study is based on the statistics of 

 egg production which have accumulated 

 during the past ten years at the Maine 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. Dur- 

 ing this period an exact trap nest record 

 has been kept of the entire egg production 

 of all laying birds during their pullet year. 

 These records are of unique value in the 

 analysis of the general problem of fecund- 

 ity, since they furnish data on a single 

 isolated factor— ovulation. The data here 



