430 
PROFESSOR POUCHET. 
We point out this analogy here without giving to it more 
weight than seems justifiable, in the absence of special re- 
searches. We may add that, from whatever point of view we 
look at the subject, either that of comparative anatomy or that 
of general anatomy, a considerable difierence still remains 
between the papilla of Amphioxus enveloped in its serous 
cavity and the dermal bony productions of fishes. Up to 
the present day, at any rate, intermediate conditions are 
wanting which would show how such a morphological 
evolution could have taken place as is taken for granted in 
bringing these organs together, from a more or less pro- 
nounced phylogenetic point of view, under a common denomi- 
nation. All just ground for establishing a real homology 
between them is wanting. Although the papillae partake, 
along with true fin-rays, of the character of skeletal organs, 
they clearly possess a special nature, without homologue, in 
other vertebrates. 
Museum de Paris, 1 June, 1880. 
