1881.]} Zoology. 655 
due to the scarcity of timber in this region, which makes it a 
necessity for them to live near the abodes of men. As popula- 
tion increases, their habits of familiarity are increased, and so the 
blue jay has become one of the tamest and most domestic of our 
Iowa birds, tolerated for his beauty and sprightliness in spite of 
his alleged, and I fear too often apparent, depredations upon 
other birds.—Charles Aldrich, Webster City, Iowa, Fune 11, 1881. 
THE OrGaAns OF SMELL IN LAND Snatits.—Dr. Sochaczewer has 
endeavored in the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche Zoologie (1880), 
to decide between the claims of the tentacles, the organ 0 
Semper, and the pedal gland to be regarded as the organ of 
smell in land snails. It has been known for many years that the 
tentacles each contain a large ganglion whence radiate five fibers 
with the investing epithelium, giving rise to terminal knobs, en- 
dowed apparently with a sensory function. Naturalists differ as 
to the office of these organs, for some, like Linnzus, regard them 
as having the sense of touch. In order to decide the matter, Dr. 
Sochaczewer cut off the tentacles of Helix pomatia, and after the 
healing process was completed, the snail was placed in the center 
of a flat plate, the edge of which was smeared with oil of turpen- 
tine. The movements of the snail were very slow and uncertain. ° 
When it approached the edge of the plate, it behaved itself ex- 
actly as did a snail in which the tentacles were completely unin- 
jured, returning at last to the middle of the plate, and withdrawing 
itself into its shell, This and similar experiments seem to show 
that the tentacles are not the seat of the sense of smell. 
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Secretion, and so come in contact with the peripheral nerve-cells. 
he author concludes by pointing out that the sensory arrange- 
ments which obtain in the invertebrates are not to be too closely 
or hastily compared with those seen in vertebrate animals.— 
Fournal of the Royal Microscopical Soctety. 
Tue Srrucrure or THE ORANG Ouranc.—Under this title Dr. 
H.C. Chapman has published in the Proceedings of the Academy 
_ Of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, notes of the dissection of a 
Male orang. The author states that “the cerebellum in my orang” 
Was relatively larger than that of man, but smaller than that of 
