RECORDS. 



453 



.SECTION OF BIOLOGY. 



February 14, 1898. 



Professor Osborn in the chair. Twenty-one persons present. 

 The following programme was presented : 



George S. Huntington, The Eparterial Bronchial Sys- 

 tem of THE Mammalia. 



F. S. Lee, The Function of the Ear and Lateral Line 

 IN Fishes. 



Professor Huntington's paper dealt with the structure of the 

 Bronchial System and with the pulmonary supply in various 

 representatives of orders and families of the Mammalia. The 

 conclusions reached are at variance, in their main points at least, 

 with the views expressed by Professor Achy and with the gen- 

 erally accepted views in the text-books of human and com- 

 parative anatomy. The most primitive form appears to be Achy's 

 "bilateral hyparterial type," represented by Achy in Hystrix 

 cristata, by Weber in Balcena mysticctus^ and now by the author 

 in Taxidea Americana. 



In the other mammalia a distinct and progressive series can 

 be established between the primitive types of bronchial distribu- 

 tion and the most complex arrangement. 



Among the many conclusions reached by Professor Hunting- 

 ton, we may note the following : The active agent in changing 

 the architecture of the lung is not the pulmonary artery (Achy), 

 but the migration of the cephalic primary trunk or its proximal 

 secondary derivative for increasing respiratory area. The pul- 

 monary artery, in the majority of forms, is lateral ; hence, dis- 

 tinction in "dorsal" and "ventral" should be abandoned, etc. 



Dr. Huntington's paper was well illustrated by lantern slides. 



Dr. Lee, after describing his experiments on the auditory 

 functions of certain fish, came to the following conclusions : (i) 

 the otolithic organs mediate the perception of progressive move- 

 ment ; (2) all experiments for demonstrating the power of hear- 

 ing in the customary sense, have failed, but destruction of the 

 organs of the lateral line, combined with removal of the large 

 pectoral and ventral fins in some species {BatracJitts tail) causes 



Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci., XI, January 18, 1899 — 30. 



