acted. “inh comteiee 
1923. ] Adhesive Pads of Gecko, ete. 139 
he had no alternative suggestions to make to account for 
the adhesive action of the foot of the Gecko. 
Kunitzky ‘in 1903 after dealing with the anatomy of the 
pads of Piychozoon homalocephalus pointed out two possibilities 
regarding the function of these pads, (1) the vacuum theory, 
which he himself dismissed with the remark that when after 
being pressed flat on the spate Pie the lamellae were 
raised again, there was no mechanism to prevent air from 
going in again, (2) the pressing of the lamellae against the 
opposing surface in such a way that the whole of the air 
was pressed out from between the lamellae. Under these 
betv.2en the lamellae could be pressed out. According to him 
a number of blood spaces found below the cutis and communi- 
cating with one another performed this function by regulating 
the flow of blood in them. When blood flows into them, they 
become distended and press the grooves on the pad so that 
the whole of the pad becomes even and smooth and the air 
is Premed out. On the other hand when pas flows out 
attributed a portion of this pies to a muscular ‘effort on 
the part of the anima 
In 190 04, H R. Schmidt * also doubted the vacuum theor y 
schliessen ist, bleibt tia} nur die PARR: dass bei der a 
Berithrung der Tausende von Kleinen Endflichen der Bors 
mit der Unterlage ebenso viele elektrische Dippeidioben 
gebildet werdern, auf welche letzten Endes das Haften der 
Zehen zuriickzufiihren wire.” W. J. Schmidt (loc. cit., 1913) 
after alluding to the views of the previous authors concludes 
that the true significance of the action of the pads of the 
Geckos still awaits solution. ‘ 
I propose to give here a brief account of my own ob- 
servations on both living dha freshly killed specimens of 


{19 \ Ramibeke Bull, Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, XVIII, ies 
03). 
2H. R. Schmidt, Zur. Anatomie und Physiologie der Geckopfote, 
Sirichas Diss. Jena (1904). 
