12 30 General Notes. [December, 
male is scarcely one-sixth the weight of the female. There is no 
trace whatever in the egg follicles of Gambusia of an independent 
egg membrane. The developing young of Gambusia obtains no 
nutrition from its parent. The same ichthyologist contributes a 
paper on certain features of the development of the salmon. 
Dr. Bean describes Stathmonotus hemphillii, a small fish from 
Key West, Fla., related to Murenoides. 
Batrachians—O, P. Hay (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1885, p. 209), 
describes as new <Amblystoma copeianum, from Indiana. It is 
without the yellow spots of A. tigrinum, has a lateral brown 
band, a broader and more depressed head, a more compressed 
tail, and longer limbs than A. #grinum. The brothers P. B. 
and C. F. Sarascn show that the genus Epicrium is not 
viviparous, as is Cecilia, but ovipatous. In the most advanced 
stage before hatching, the embryo is provided with very long 
blood-red external gill-filaments, and has also a distinct tail 
with a strong fin. The gill-filaments are shed previous to 
hatching, after which the young Cacilians make their way to 
the neighboring stream, in which they breathe by means of 
gill-slits. After they leave the water their gill-slits close up, 
and they breathe by lungs. There is a fourth gill-arch, from 
which the pulmonary artery is given off. The spermatozoon has 
a spiral filament. The last two facts tend to show that the Cæci- 
lians are nearer to the Urodela than to the Anura. It has been 
shown that the old species Rana temporaria contains many 
specific forms that have been confounded because of great resem- 
blance in coloration and habits. M.G. A. Boulenger distinguishes 
eight species of red frogs or Rane temporaria, viz., R. fusca, 
arvalis, sylvatica, iberica, latastei, japonica, agilis, and pennsylva- 
nica. Exteriorly these forms differ in the greater or less length 
of the pelvic members, the shape of the head, the size of the 
tympanum, the greater or less development of the tubercle of the 
first cuneiform bone, the presence or absence of the vocal sacs in 
the male, etc. The vomerine teeth differ as do also the genital 
organs of the males. In the species with vocal sacs, or at least 
in fusca and arvalis, the throat of the males becomes blue in spring, 
and a bluish tint invades the skin. The arms of the males, always 
more robust than those of the females, become thicker still in the 
rutting period, and the thumb then becomes covered with rugos- 
ities. Copulation takes place at the end of winter or in early 
spring, when the males may be seen firmly seated on the females, 
_ with their arms around them and their hands joined over the 
breast. R. sylvatica and R. pennsylvanica are American, R. japon- 
ica is found in China and Japan and the others are European. 
. fusca is found in most of Europe, except Southwest France 
d Spain; R. arvalıs is found in the Northeast of Europe and 
ly in Northern Asia; R. erica is limited to Spain and 
3 R. datastei is found in Northern Italy, and R. agilis in 
