1897.] Zoology. 985 
ZOOLOGY. 
The Cæcal Appendices of the Orthopteran Mid-Gut.'— 
Continuing his observations on the glands connected with the intestine, 
Bordas points out that in all the Orthoptera, with the exception of the 
Forficulide and Phasmide, the well known cecal appendices of the 
grasshopper, though varying in form from family to family, may be 
recognized. The presence or absence of the cxca corresponds more or 
less closely with different external morphological characters and allows 
the orthoptera to be divided into two sections. Moreover, the number 
of these organs, their disposition, their mode of insertion, the folds pre- 
sented by their internal surface and especially the presence or absence 
of posterior diverticula, are characteristics by which a number of 
families may be recognized. For instance, the Mantidæ and the Blat- 
tide are provided with 8 intestinal ceca, while the Acridiids possess 
but 6, and the Locustids as well asthe Gryllidx possess but 2. From 
his observations upon numerous specimens, he concludes that a series 
may be distinguished in which paired appendices stand at one end and 
multiple appendices at the other, or in other words, that the Pseudo- 
phyllinis connect the Acridiide with the Locustide.—TF. C, K. 
For many years one of the problematic structures of vertebrate mor- 
phology has been the hypochorda or sub-notochordal rod, a slender 
cord of tissue developed like the notochord from the entoderm and 
lying ventral and parallel to the larger and better known chorda dor- 
salis. Its phylogenetic origin, its function and its fate have been un- 
certain. In the last number of the Morphologisches Jahrbuch, 
Bd. xxv, are two papers dealing with the subject. In the first, Dr. 
K. Franz deals with this structure in the Teleostean fishes. His con- 
clusions in brief are that the structure in question is entodermal, that 
at no time does it contain a lumen, and that it sooner or later entirely 
degenerates without contributing any elements to the longitudinal ven- 
tral ligament of the vertebral column, a view contrary to that of some 
observers, but in full accord with broader views of morphology. The 
second paper is by Professor Hermann Klaatsch, and deals with the 
morphological significance of thesubnotochordal rod. He summarizes 
his conclusions as follows: The hypochorda is a common possession of 
the higher vertebrates inherited from their ancestors. It is the rudi- 
iL. Bordas: Compt. Rend. Acad, Sci. Paris, CXXIV, (1897), 376--378. 
