190 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
the remaining half redivides. So H. E. Ziegler’s generalization that 
direct nuclear division in Metazoa is never associated with cell-division, 
is not invariably true. 
Protoplasmic Fibrils of Epithelial Cells.* — Dr. E. Kromayer has 
discovered a process of technique which is well adapted for showing 
intra- and inter-cellular protoplasmic fibrils. The sections are stained 
with alum-carmine, borax-carmine, or vesuvin ; washed in water or 
alcohol ; placed in aqueous solution of methyl-violet ; washed in water ; 
placed in potassium iodide solution for a second or two ; washed in 
water ; treated with anilin-xylol, and finally with xylol. 
Sections of skin so treated show very distinctly the network of fibres 
throughout the cells, and the bridges between neighbouring cells. In 
the cylindrical cells the fibres run parallel to the long axis, are very 
strong, and often spirally twisted. The peculiarities in the other cells 
of the epidermis are carefully described. Dr. Kromayer regards the 
fibres as a sort of protective framework of the framework, but they are 
also extensile and contractile, and the basal fibres of the cylindrical cells 
establish a firm connection with the cutis. 
Eosinophilous Cells in the Medulla of the Bones. f — Dr. J. von 
Scarpatetti has made some observations — not as yet very conclusive — 
on the eosinophilous cells in the medulla of the bones of the rabbit. 
He confirms Lowit as to the analogies between the granulations in these 
cells and those in the blood-corpuscles of crabs, but he does not feel 
warranted in stating any opinion as to the chemical nature of the 
abundant a-substance. He does not regard the cells as globulin- 
forming. In different rabbits the abundance of the eosinophilous cells 
varies considerably ; thus, in those only 12 days old there were 
comparatively few, and they increase as the creature grows. 
■y. General. 
Outlines of Zoology4 — Ml'. J. Arthur Thomson has published a 
text-book of Zoology, intended to serve as an accompaniment to several 
well-known works, most of which follow other modes of treatment. The 
earlier chapters which deal with the general aspects of the subject 
are more detailed than they often are in English works of this 
kind. 
Fifth Annual Report of Liverpool Marine Biological Station.§— 
Prof. W. A. Herdmau has published another of his lively and interesting 
reports on this station which is still situated on Puffin Island. The bad 
weather of last year was very much against the marine zoologist, but 
progress has been made with the third volume of reports on the Fauna 
and Flora of Liverpool Bay. Species new to the region continue to be 
discovered. 
B. INVERTEBRATA. 
Spermatogenesis of some Mediterranean Invertebrates. || — Dr. C. 
Pictet has investigated the spermatogenesis of five species of Echinoids, 
* Archiv f. Mikr. Anat , xxxix. (1892) pp. 141-50 (1 pi.). 
t Op. cit., xxxviii. (1801) pp. 013-8. 
X ‘ Outlines of Zoology,’ Edinburgh and London, Young J. Pentland, 1892, 8vo, 
xiv. and 611 pp. (32 pis. of diagrams). § Liverpool, 1892, 8vo, 31 pp. 
|1 Mittheil. Zool. iStat. Neapel, x. (1S91) pp. 75-152 (3 pis.). 
