132 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 
The Relations of the Brachiopoda. — In a memoir just published, M. 
Lucaze-Duthiers controverts the current opinion regarding the zoological 
position of this class. He has pointed out that, contrary to the beautiful 
inquiries of Professor Huxley and Mr. Hancock, the Terebratula is not closely 
allied to the Molluscoida, but has closer affinities with the Bivalves. The 
horse-shoe process is almost the only structure resembling that of Mol- 
luscoida. He corroborates Professor Huxley’s statement that the intestine 
of Terebratula is ccecal, and thus arrives at a very different conclusion from 
that put forward by Professor Owen. — Vide Com/pte s Rendus, Nov. 6. 
The Development of the Axolotl. — At a late meeting of the French 
Academy, M. Aug. Dumeril described the results of his observations upon the 
development of the Axolotl ( Siredon Mexicanus). At a former meeting 
(April last) he described the first changes which the ova undergo. He has 
since carefully watched the several metamorphoses exhibited by the speci- 
mens in the Menagerie of the Museum of Natural History. Having described 
the external changes of form which these interesting reptiles underwent, M. 
Dumeril asserted that a corresponding series of internal modifications accom- 
pany the outer ones. “ The scarcity of specimens prevented my following 
through their progressive course the changes presented J by the hyo-branchial 
apparatus, but the anatomical examination of their structure in one of the 
specimens showed that the three internal branchial arches had disappeared ; 
there remained only the most external one, which, deprived of its dentated 
membrane, and united by an articulation with the cornu of the thyroid 
cartilage, constituted a sort of posterior joint. Behind this piece was seen 
on each side the anterior branch of the hyoid bone. The median or basi- 
hyal piece was well developed, and, as in the other parts of the hyoid, ossifi- 
cation had commenced. The bodies of the vertebrae were less concave on the 
posterior surfaces, but especially so upon the anterior. 
The Ooze from the Bottom of the Atlantic has been described by Mr. 
Sidebotham in a paper read before the Manchester Philosophical Association. 
In the unsuccessful attempts made to raise the Atlantic cable, the grapnels and 
ropes brought up with them a quantity of ooze or mud, some of which was 
scraped off and preserved. He obtained specimens of the deposit from Mr. 
Fairbairn, and submitted them to microscopic examination. In appearance 
the deposit resembles dirty clay, and reminds one of the chalk of Dover ; 
indeed, it presents such appearances as would lead to the inference that a 
bed of chalk is now being formed at the bottom of the Atlantic. It was 
composed entirely of minute organisms, which exhibited a very fragmentary 
condition. 
The Bach-bones of Men and Apes. — A most important and noteworthy 
memoir has been published by Mr. St. George Mivart, in which the writer 
shows the relation which exists between the vertebral columns of the primates. 
The latter group he regards as divisible into four separate sections, which are 
represented respectively by (1) Simia, (2) Cercopithecus, (3) Nydicebus, and 
(4) Lemur. The affinities of these sub-types he has ingeniously represented 
in a sort of arborescent scheme, in which the several branches correspond to 
separate genera. 
