ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
577 
that the leucocytes seem to play a part in the ingestion and transport of 
part of the food (albuminoid material ?). 
Multinucleate Epithelial Cells.* * * § — Dr. W. Tonkoff finds that the 
multinucleate condition of the flat epithelial cells of the pericardium is 
of frequent occurrence in mammals and birds. It is probable that other 
serous envelopes will show the same. He notes, for the benefit of 
teachers of practical histology, that the pericardial epithelium of the 
adult cat is a readily available object for showing typical multinucleate 
cells, and that the same tissue in the white rat always shows good 
instances of direct nuclear division. 
Innervation of Sensory Hairs. f — Herr P. Ksjunin has studied this 
in about half a score of mammals. There are nerve-endings which lie 
in the connective-tissue sheath of the hair-follicle, others in the external 
root-sheath, others in the papilla itself. The motor nerve-endings which 
are associated with the striped muscle of the hairs form a special (fourth) 
group. Perhaps the most marked result of the research is the demon- 
stration of free intra-epithelial nerve-endings in the external root- 
sheath. 
Envelopes of the Spinal Cord in Anura.J — Dr. G. N. Sterzi has 
studied these in Bufo viridis, Bana esculenta, B . temporciria , and Hyla 
arborea. From within outwards, he describes the meninx secundaria, the 
dura mater, the “ calcareous organ,” and the endorhachis. The meninx 
secundaria and the dura mater correspond to the meninx primitiva of 
fishes, from which they are phylogenetically derived, and to the three 
envelopes in man. The “ calcareous organ ” is not an envelope, but the 
outer boundary of the epidural space. The epidural space corresponds 
to the same area in mammals, and to the intermediate layer in fishes ; 
there is also an imperfectly developed subdural space which is absent in 
fishes. The endorhachis corresponds to the so-called Buckgratkanal- 
periost of mammals. In short, the condition in Anura is intermediate 
between that in fishes and that in mammals. The ontogeny corresponds 
exactly to the presumed phylogeny. 
Stellate Cells of the Mammalian Liver.§— Dr. C. von Kupffer finds 
that these elements are not perivascular, but belong to the endothelium 
of the capillaries of the portal vein, which seems to form a syncytium 
with marked phagocytic properties. Foreign bodies and erythrocytes are 
taken up from the blood and disrupted into minute particles. It remains 
uncertain whether the leucocytes help. 
Air-Sacs of Birds. || — Mary J. Ross notes that the lining of the sacs 
(in the chicken) is pavement epithelium, except where the sac is attached 
to the surrounding tissue. Here there are variations in the form of the 
cells, which range from pavement to columnar epithelium. Cilia are 
present over the entire surface of the sacs contained within the body- 
cavity, but are absent from the prolongations of the sacs in the joints 
and in the cavities of the bones. 
* Anat. Anzeig., xvi. (1899) pp. 256-60 (2 figs.), 
f Arch. Mikr. Anat , liv. (1899) pp. 403-20 (2 pis.), 
t Anat. Anzeig., xvi. (1899) pp. 230-9. 
§ Arch. Mikr. Anat., liv. (1899) pp. 254-88 (3 pis.). 
(I Trans. Amer. Micr. Soc., xx. (1899) pp. 29-40 (3 pis.). 
