October 16, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



561 



ON THE PENIAL 8TBUQTUBES OF THE 

 8AUBIA* 



In the course of preparation of a work 

 on the scaled reptiles of North America for 

 the Smithsonian Institution it has be- 

 come necessary to examine some neglected 

 parts of the anatomy. In the present 

 paper I give the results of an investi- 

 gation into the structure of the hemi- 

 penis of the lizards. Very little attention 

 has been given to the subject hitherto, 

 and our knowledge up to 1856 f is thus 

 summarized by Stannius : A duplication or 

 bifurcation of each organ is present in 

 Lacerta and in Platydadylus guttatus. The 

 copulatory organs of the Chamseleonidse are 

 distinguished by their shortness. In 

 various Varanidse which have been investi- 

 gated, the internal cavity (external when 

 protruded) has transverse concentric folds. 

 A fissure interrupts these folds, so that they 

 are not complete annuli. The extremity is 

 acuminate and expands at the base, form- 

 ing a kind of glans. 



In 1870 [j: J. E. Gray describes and figures 

 this organ of Varanus heraldicus, giving the 

 best illustration that I know of. In 1886 

 'W"iedersheim§ describes and figures this or- 

 gan in Lacerta. Besides these references I 

 know of nothing later. 



As was to have been anticipated, I have 

 found these organs to correspond with the 

 rest of the structure, and to furnish invalu- 

 able aids to the determination of affinities 

 among the Sauria. Reference to them can- 

 not be omitted henceforth in cases where 

 the other characters render the question of 

 affinity uncertain. 



In the Sauria the male intromittent 

 organ or hemipenis presents much variety 

 of structure, showing some parallels to the 



* Abstract of a paper read before Sect. F of the 

 Amer. Ass. Adv. Sci., Buffalo, August, 1896. 

 t Zootomie der Amphibien, p. 266. 

 tAnnals Magaz. Nat. Hist., 1870, VII., p. 283. 

 ^Lehrbucb der Vergl. Anat. Wirbeltb. 



corresponding part in the snakes. It is, how- 

 ever ,rarely spinous,as is so generally the case 

 in the Ophidia, the only spinous forms be- 

 ing, so far as I have examined, the American 

 Diploglossinse and genera allied to Cophidas. 



The higher Sauria have the apical parts 

 modified, as in the Ophidia, by the presence 

 of calyculi. Such are characteristic of the 

 Khiptoglossa and Pachyglossa. The Nyc- 

 tisaura possesses the same feature. The 

 Diploglossa, Helodermatoidea and Theca- 

 glossa have the organ flounced, the flounces 

 often pocketed or repand on the margin. 

 In the Leptoglossa we have laminse only; 

 in the Tiidse mostly transverse, and in the 

 Scincidse mostly longtitudinal. In various 

 genera terminal papillae are present. The 

 organ may be simple, or bifurcate, or merely 

 bilobate. I have not met with the case so 

 common in Ophidia, where the sulcus sper- 

 maticus is bifurcate and the organ undi- 

 vided. 



The structures of the hemipenis have a 

 c otant systematic value. As in the 

 Ophidia, the value difiers with the charac- 

 ter, but it varies from generic to super- 

 family in rank. E. D. Cope. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 THE AECH^OLOGY OP SWITZERLAND. 



A BRIEF and excellent conspectus of the 

 archaeology of Switzerland is presented in 

 a recently published lecture by Dr. J. 

 Heierli, of the University of Zurich. A 

 number of important ' stations ' are named 

 and described in the appendix. 



That the upper valley of the Rhine was 

 peopled in palaeolithic and immediately 

 post-glacial times is proved by the extra- 

 ordinary discoveries in the Kessler-loch, 

 near Thaingen. They include bones of ex- 

 tinct animals, weapons and ornaments, and 

 drawings of unquestionable antiquity. The 

 lake dwellings contribute a rich harvest for 

 the following period, the neolithic ; while 

 the bronze and later epochs have numerous 



