ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
477 
does not consider it necessary to postulate a special vital action on the 
part of the cells, but thinks that there must be special mechanical 
peculiarities in the cells. He thinks that similar conditions must exist 
in certain glands where water passes from a solution of higher osmotic 
pressure to one of lower. The remainder of the paper consists of a 
discussion of the relation between the chemical composition of various 
drugs and reagents, and their physiological action. 
Sense of Smell in Birds.* — Xavier Raspail has made observations 
which lead him to conclude that the sense of smell, which many 
authorities regard as practically undeveloped in birds, except in noc- 
turnal birds of prey, is really well-developed in many, such as rook 
magpie, and blackbird, whose olfactory sensitiveness he compares with 
that of dogs. 
Ear and Lateral Line in Fishes.f — Prof. F. S. Lee has made 
numerous experiments, especially on Galeus canis , as to the functions of 
the ear and the lateral line. The cristse acusticse are connected with 
the perception of rotatory movements ; the maculse acusticse are con- 
nected with the perception of progressive movements and the position of 
the fish ; the papilla acustica basilaris (the nerve-ending in the organ of 
Corti), present in higher Vertebrates, is absent in fishes, and with it the 
proper auditory nerve ; the lateral line is associated with equilibration. 
Affinities of Enterochromes.J — Dr. Marion I. Newbigin points out 
that, while acid acts on an alcoholic extract of green leaves in such a 
way as to produce the pigment phyllocyanin, which is insoluble in 
alcohol and ether, its action on an alcoholic extract of green algse results 
in the production of a pigment which is exceedingly soluble in alcohol, 
and does not therefore precipitate from acidified alcoholic solutions 
unless a considerable amount of water be added. In its colour and 
fluorescence, in its spectrum, in its changes in colour and spectrum on 
the addition of acid, in its solubilities, the pigment shows a remarkable 
resemblance to the enterochromes. This resemblance is such that, 
taken in conjunction with the recent observations and conclusions of 
Dr. McMunn in the case of “ enterochlorophyll,” and with the fact that 
that pigment occurs in the faeces of Patella , it seems to justify the 
conclusion that “ enterochlorophyll ” at least is an acid derivative of 
chlorophyll, produced by the action of the digestive juices on the 
chlorophyll of the food. Whether the other enterochromes, and notably 
chsetopterin, are produced in this way, cannot yet be determined. There 
can, however, be no doubt that the enterochromes are at least closely 
related to the pigment produced by the action of acid on the chlorophyll 
of green algse. 
Functions of Lymph-glands in Vertebrates.§ — Dr. V. Schumacher 
has investigated the lymph-glands of numerous monkeys and of men, 
and finds that they are areas in which red blood-corpuscles undergo de- 
generation. The leucocytes take up the corpuscles, and these then 
break down into pigment within the cytoplasm of the leucocytes. He 
* Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xxiv. (1899) pp. 92-102. 
t Amer. Journ. Physiol., i. (1898) pp. 128-44. See Zool. Centralbl., vi. (1899) 
pp. 409-11. X Zool. Anzeig., xxii. (1899) pp. 325-8. 
§ Arch. f. Mikr. Anat., liv. (1899) pp. 311-28 (1 pi.). 
1899 2 K 
i 
