358 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S Vol. V. No. 113. 



THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, 

 DECEMBER, 1896. DOUBLE NUMBER. 



The Brain of the Bee — A Preliminary Contri- 

 bution to the Morphology of the Nervous System of 

 the Arthrojioda: By F. C. Kenyon, Ph.D., 

 Clark University. This memoir contains the 

 first really successful and comprehensive appli- 

 cation of modern methods to the central nervous 

 system of the insects. Dr. Kenyon was very 

 successful with the newer silver and hsema- 

 toxylin methods, though the diflSculties in this 

 research were very great. This communication 

 contains a detailed description of the structure, 

 especially the fiber connections, of the brain of 

 the honey bee, with the exception of the optic 

 lobes, which are reserved for separate treat- 

 ment. Thirty-two cell groups are enumerated 

 and their connections given so far as known. 

 The text comprises 78 pages and there are nine 

 plates, three of photographs, two of silver 

 preparations and four charts in colors showing 

 the courses of the fibers in detail. Among the 

 results perhaps the most interesting relates to 

 the structure of the so-called mushroom bodies. 

 Additional evidence is adduced to show that 

 the function of these peculiar bodies is that of 

 enabling the insect to intelligently adapt itself 

 to its surroundings. They are shown to be 

 connected at their calices with two pairs of 

 sensory tracts of fibers from the optic lobes, 

 with three from theantennal lobes and with one 

 that is probably also sensory from the ventral 

 nervous system. Their roots are shown by 

 fragmentary evidence, sufBcient to warrant the 

 couckision, to be very probably connected with 

 the inner terminals of motor, or possibly of 

 other efferent fibers. 



The Origin and Groivth of Brain Cells in the 

 Adult Body .- By Howard Ayers. The recent 

 discovery of the centrosome in both vertebrate 

 and invertebrate nerve cells has brought into 

 prominence anew the question as to whether 

 the current doctrine that adult nerve cells do 

 not divide is true. It will be remembered that 

 Herrick and others have long claimed that it is 

 not, and now Dr. Ayers brings forward fresh 

 evidence. In the brain of the adult Torpedo he 

 finds cells dividing in a very characteristic 

 manner and these are especially abundant in 

 the electric lobes. The centrosome was found. 



but the division is apparently amitotic. In the 

 electric lobes there is also another remarkable 

 feature. The overgrown ganglion cells have 

 applied themselves to the walls of the arterial 

 capillaries and there spread themselves out, thus 

 affording the best possible facilities for nutri- 

 tion. 



The Innervation of the Auditory Epithelium in 

 Mustelus canis DeKay : By A. D. Moerill. 

 This paper gives a summary of the results of 

 some very successful methylen blue prepara- 

 tions of the ear of the smooth dog-fish. No 

 continuation of the nerve into the cell was ob- 

 served, although the cells were semi-transpa- 

 rent. Satisfactory evidence of anastomosis of 

 nerve fibers was not obtained. There are two 

 kinds of nerve endings in the auditory epithe- 

 lium, the one being free near the surface, and 

 the other ending in knob-like structures in con- 

 tact with the base of the hair cells. 



Neural Terms, International and National : By 

 Burt G. Wilder, M. D., Cornell University. 

 In this extensive paper of 136 pages Dr. Wilder 

 has brought together the main points in his 

 voluminous writings on nomenclature, together 

 with much new matter, and has arranged the 

 whole in the form of a systematic presentation 

 of the principles of nomenclature and their ap- 

 plication to the nervous system, which should 

 be a standard of reference for many years to 

 come. The immediate occasion of the paper is 

 the report of the Committee on Anatomical 

 Nomenclature of the Anatomische Gesellschaft, 

 Basel, 1895. As this German committee is to re- 

 port again after three years, it is very desirable 

 that in the meantime all questions of nomen- 

 clature should receive careful attention. The 

 paper contains a valuable list of definitions of 

 terms employed in the discussion, a review of 

 the author's work on nomenclature, full dis- 

 cussions on the reports of the American and 

 German committees and extensive comparative 

 tables of terms of brain anatomy, together with 

 a bibliography. 



AMERICAN GEOLOGIST, FEBRUARY. 



A TRIBUTE to Professor Ch. Fred. Hartt, By 

 Frederic W. Simonds. 



Dr. F. W. Sardeson continues his correla- 

 tion studies on the Galena and Maquoketa 



