No. 422. NOTES AND LITERATURE. 163 
In a note in a subsequent number of Science, Dr. A. E. Ortmann 
claims the existence of adequate geological evidence of the former 
extension of the continent “ Antarctica.” In this case the distribu- 
tion of Galaxias would be easily explained, but it could be conceiv- 
ably explained without it. Dr. Ortmann notes also evidence of the 
faunal union of Japan with Europe when the climate of Siberia was 
much warmer than now. This evidence is drawn from the distribu- 
tion of Crustacea. The distribution of the fishes does not, however, 
yield evidence of this kind. D. S. J. 
Jordan and Snyder on the Puffing Fishes of Japan. — In the 
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Jordan and Snyder 
continue their monographic reviews of the fishes of Japan, treating 
of the gymnodont fishes, or puffers. Twenty-seven species are 
described, belonging to eight genera. Four new species are figured, 
besides several previously known. The authors unite the genus 
Lagocephalus with Spheroides, finding a continuous series from one 
extreme to the other. In like manner, Ovoides is merged into 
Tetraodon. ` ' DEI 
Kerr on the Paired Limbs of Vertebrates. — In the Proceedings 
of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Mr. Kerr discusses the ques- 
tion of the origin of the paired limbs in vertebrates. He finds the 
view of Balfour and others, that these limbs had their origin in a 
lateral fold, without adequate support in fact or in theoretical 
considerations. : 
The view of Gegenbaur, that they arose from modification of the 
gill septa separating gill slits, he also criticises unfavorably. 
As a provisional hypothesis he brings forward the theory, already 
foreshadowed by others, that the vertebrate limbs are modified exter- 
nal gills. The close association of the fore limbs and gills shown in 
Mr. Kerr's plates of the young Lepidosiren, in another paper, seems 
to lend color to this theory. RSI 
Notes on Fishes. — Professor Alfredo Dugès. of Guanajuato has 
recently sent a bottle of little fishes taken in the very hot spring at 
Ixtlan, in the northwestern part of the Mexican state of Michoacan. 
These belong to the species described by Woolman as Gambusia 
infans. Itis a valid species, distinguished by its small size and plain 
color among other things, but the original description 1s at fault in 
