li 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 449. 



nautilus forms new chambers in its shell. 

 The breathing of the animal is in striking 

 contrast to that of many other cephalopods. 

 In Octopus, for instance, the inflation and 

 emptying of the respiratory cavity involves 

 the combined action of the muscular mantle 

 and the funnel; in Nautilus the operation is 

 carried out exclusively by the funnel, the 

 mantle being a thin membrane applied to the 

 inner surface of the shell. From the fact 

 that animal bait of almost any kind may be 

 used with success in capturing the nautilus, 

 it is probable that this mollusc feeds naturally 

 on almost any animal substance. Apparently 

 it inhabits normally the bottom of the sea, for 

 those taken near the surface are nearly always 

 moribund. The wounds of injured specimens 

 heal at the edges, but without regeneration. 

 Variation was most noticeable in the disposi- 

 tion of certain unsymmetrical organs. Thus 

 the main siphuncular artery may arise from 

 either the left or the right division of the 

 posterior pallial artery. In one instance a 

 situs inversus of the reproductive organs was 

 observed, in that the vas deferens was found 

 on the left side instead of on the right and 

 the pyriform gland was on the right, instead 

 of the left. These and many other new ob- 

 servations on the structure and natural his- 

 tory of the nautilus fill the concluding part 

 of the ' Zoological Results ' and bear witness 

 to the energy and patience of Dr. Willey as 

 a field zoologist and explorer, even though in 

 the end he was obliged to abandon his quest 

 for the developing eggs of the pearly nautilus. 

 G. H. Parker. 

 Harvaed University. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 The Journal of Comparative Neurology for 

 June contains four leading articles, besides 

 the usual book reviews: (1) 'An Enmnera- 

 tion of the MeduUated Nerve Fibers in the 

 Dorsal Roots of the Spinal Nerves of Man,' 

 by Charles Ingbert. There is given a figure 

 of a typical cross section of each dorsal spinal 

 root, with a tabulation of the number of nerve 

 fibers in each fascicle of each root. The total 

 number of medullated nerve fibers in the 



dorsal roots of the left side of a large man 

 is 653,627; the total area of the cross sections 

 of these roots is 54.93 sq. mm.; there are on 

 the average 11,900 medullated nerve fibers 

 per sq. nun. of cross-section of these roots. 

 This paper will be followed by a similar enu- 

 meration of the ventral roots. (2) ' On the 

 Phylogeny and Morphological Position of the 

 Terminal Buds of Fishes,' by 0. Judson Her- 

 rick. On both physiological and morpholog- 

 ical grounds these organs are to be classed 

 with the taste buds of the mouth cavity and 

 not with either tactile or lateral line organs. 

 (3) ' On the Nature of the Pericellular Net- 

 work of Nerve Cells,' by Shinkishi Hatai. 

 Supports in general the views of Held that 

 this network is composed of the terminal 

 arborizations of axones of other neurones and 

 concludes that the networks of Golgi and 

 Bethe are of the same type. (4) ' The Neuro- 

 keratin in the Medullary Sheaths of the Per- 

 ipheral Nerves of Mammals,' by Shinkishi 

 Hatai. A new technique brings out the de- 

 tails of the structure of the neurokeratin 

 framework more clearly than has hitherto 

 been done. This substance is arranged in 

 two layers, one beneath the primitive sheath 

 and the other along the axis cylinder, which 

 are connected by bands of neurokeratin which 

 run obliquely from the outer to the inner layer 

 in a funnel-shaped pattern. Neither the outer 

 nor the inner layer is interrupted at the nodes 

 of Ranvier. 



The statement recently quoted in this 

 journal regarding the establishment of the 

 Journal for Infectious Diseases to be edited 

 by Professors Ludvig Hektoen and E. O. 

 Jordan is inaccurate. The journal is sup- 

 ported by contributions from Mr. and Mrs. 

 Harold F. McCormick, but no specified sum 

 has been given to endow the journal. It is 

 to be published by the Memorial Institute for 

 Infectious Diseases, not by the University of 

 Chicago. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE GRAXD GULF FORMATION. 



To THE Editor of Science: The communi- 

 cation of Dr. Dall on the Grand Gulf forma- 



