ALBERT

Notes: Certain variations of ciliary activity in the lamellibranch gill occur which are an intrinsic part of the gill tissue and which are due to causes other than environmental changes. Experimental and morphological evidence indicates that the central nervous system is not involved in the production of these variations.A comparative study of laterofrontal and lateral ciliated cells leads to the conclusion that the coordination impulse passes through the cytoplasm of the cell and that the velocity of the propagation wave is influenced by the number of cell walls per unit length through which it passes. It is suggested that the ciliary rootlets in the laterfrontal cells, due to their arrangement bring the impulse simultaneously to both rows of cilia within a single cell.

Notes: An investigation of the spermiogenesis of Succinea ovalis Say, a small terrestrial pulmonate, has revealed: 1) The germ cells are differentiated from indifferent germinal epithelial cells. In this form the germinal epithelium is a true epithelium, and not a syncytium. 2) Forty chromosomes are found in the spermatogonial divisions and twenty in the maturation divisions. 3) Early in spermiogenesis the proximal centriole penetrates through the spermatid nucleus and, with the oxychromatin, forms an intranuclear rod similar to that reported for certain prosobranches. The homology and significance of the rod are discussed. 4) Of the cytoplasmic structures, the mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus were followed through all stages of spermatogenesis. 5) At the maturation divisions the mitochondria are grouped into peculiar. thread-like structures. Some of the mitochondria take part in the formation of the sheath around the axial filament of the spermatozoon, while the remainder are sloughed off with the cytoplasmic remnant. 6) The Golgi apparatus consists of a number of banana-shaped rods closely grouped around the idiosome. Three to five Golgi rods are found in the spermatid stages. A portion of the Golgi apparatus and idisome (acroblast) forms the acrosome, and the Golgi remnant is discarded at the end of spermatogenesis. 7) In mature sperm both head and tail have a spiral structure. The origin and nature of the spirals are pointed out.

Notes: The blood cells of the African lungfish, Protopterus ethiopicus, are very large and resemble those of urodeles. Leucocytes are especially plentiful and rich in variety, including eosinophils, special eosinophils, [meta-eosinophils] with atypical granules, monocytes, thrombocytes, lymphocytes, and basophils.The chief hemocytopoietic organs are the spleen, intestine, and kidneys. The lungfish spleen, embedded in the wall of the stomach, represents an intermediate phylogenetic stage between the disperse intra-enteral type of the hagfish and the compact extra-enteral type of other vertebrates.Erythrocytes are formed in the spleen pulp, granulocytes in the granulocytopoietic organ of the intestine and in the capsules of kidneys, gonads, and spleen. Thrombocytes and monocytes are differentiated in the spleen and general circulation. Basophils arise in the spleen and intestine. Lymphoid cells of all types arise in the spleen. Evidence is presented bearing upon the hemocytopoietic capacity of the various types. Cells with [Russell bodies] also occur in the spleen.In lungfishes subjected to long periods of dry estivation, erythrocytopoiesis practically ceases. Granulocytes, however, appear to play an important rǒle, possibly in fat metabolism. The large variety of meta-eosinophils, a unique feature of the lungfish, appears to be associated with the habit of estivation.Recovery from estivation may show numerous amitoses of erythrocytes in the general circulation. Other cells which divide in this manner are young thrombocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphoid hemoblasts.

Notes: The acrosome in Desmognathus, Spelerpes, Plethodon, salamander, Amphiuma, etc., is attached to the nucleus in connection with an acrosome seat, which forms a shallow cup, traced back to a number of granules in the early spermatid. A postnuclear plate is present in the above-mentioned urodeles, and is derived from a small number of minute granules which assemble in the spermatid and become fixed onto the nuclear membrane. The centrosomes of the spermatid are visible intravitam. The ‘vacuome’ is formed of minute neutral-red-staining globules embedded in the idiozome. No connection appears to exist between mitochondria and Golgi bodies, as is postulated by the vacuome-chondriome hypothesis (Parat).

Notes: This paper presents a study of the normal histology of the digestive tract of an herbivorous teleost, the minnow Campostoma anomalum (Raflnesque). The tunics of the buccal cavity, pharynx, esophagus, and intestine are described; particular attention is given to the mucosa because of the specializations occurring in that coat, such as taste buds, goblet cells, callous pad, etc. Because of the very decided anatomical and histological differences existing between the anterior and posterior regions of the pharynx, due to the presence of a callous pad and pharyngeal teeth, it has been deemed advisable to consider the pharynx as divisible into an anterior and a posterior region. Thyroid tissue was found in the submucosa of the anterior pharynx. No gastric epithelium was demonstrated, the ‘intestinal bulb,’ the only enlargement of the coelomic portion of the digestive tube, being lined with epithelium presenting only minor differences from that found in the coiled tubular intestine.

Notes: The cupula of the supraorbital neuromast in the lateral line canal of the clown knifefish contains vertical columns. In the central region of the cupula overlying the macula, these columns are densely packed, are relatively constant in size, and run from the base of the cupula to the surface of the cupula which is exposed to canal fluid. There are two types of columns, dark and light, which form elliptical compartments in planes of section that cut across the columns; the cupula therefore has the appearance of mosaic tile in such sections. The dark compartments contain tubules that extend from the base of the cupula at the junction with the macula to the top of the cupula. Each tubule is associated with the kinocilium of a single hair cell. The lateral parts of the cupula, not overlying the macula, also contain compartments, but these compartments differ in size and structure from those in the central region. In addition to the compartments, the central region of the cupula also contains spherical aggregates of droplets. These small aggregates, termed mora, are found principally in a layer within the central region of the cupula, but are also found outside this layer. Because of their light-reflecting properties, the mora can be used for noninvasive optical measurements in vivo of the motion of the cupula.

Notes: Light and electron microscopic examination demonstrated two types of non-endocrine agranular cells, cavity boundary cells and stellate cells, in the adenohypophysis of the South American lungfish, Lepidosiren paradoxa. The cavity boundary cells line the hypophyseal cleft and diverticulum and display few microvilli, occasional cilia, prominent junctional complexes, and many cytoplasmic microfilaments. The stellate cells are scattered in the glandular parenchyma and are devoid of microvilli and cilia. When adjacent, they are connected to one another by desmosomes. Pinocytotic vesicles or caveolae are frequently seen along the plasma membrane of the agranular cells adjoining the endocrine cells or abutting on the basement membrane. Possible roles of the agranular cells, physically and metabolically supportive functions, are discussed on the basis of their ultrastractural features.

Notes: The paired organ of Bellonci protrudes from the optic lobe of the giant Antarctic isopod, Glyptonotus antarcticus. It is linked to the cortex by a broad peduncle. No connection to the cuticle or “sensory pore organ” was found. A cluster of sensory-like cells forms two outer ciliary segments branching into numerous microvilli with microtubules. The putative sensory somata are irregular in shape and contain a very high density of glycogen granules. The two outer segments sprout from two pits of the soma in different directions, forming a right angle. Glial cells wrap around the sensory cells and also delimit lacunae into which bundles of microvilli project. These lacunae contain electron-dense granules of small size and with species-specific patterns. Lacunae and dense granules show features typical of a degeneration process in the sensory cells.This general morphology corresponds to the unilobular type of organ of Bellonci, known in other isopods; it differs from the plurilobular type with onion bodies found in other Crustacea.

Notes: Neuromast structure in Rana cancrivora larvae was observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Neuromast units, each being composed of two or three neuromasts, are arranged in several well-defined lines in the head, body, and tail regions. The structure of neuromasts in these three regions is basically identical. The neuromast is composed of sensory, sustentacular, and mantle cells. The top of each neuromast has a hillocklike appearance, and is surrounded by four to six epidermal cells with tight intercellular junctions. Long kinocilia and many stereocilia occur in the apex of the neuromasts and are surrounded by numerous microvilli. Numerous granules are present on the apical portions of the mantle and the sustentacular cells. Four or five trapeziform mantle cells are connected closely with each other to form the shell of the neuromast. Large intercellular spaces occur between the mantle cells and the cells of the inner epidermal layers, and between the cells of the inner epidermal layer. Thus, at the apical parts of the neuromast intercellular junctions are tight and the intercellular spaces are more dilated in more basal areas. Morphologically the neuromasts of R. cancrivora larvae resemble those of generalized pond anurans, based on the grouping of Lannoo (Journal of Morphology 191:115-129, 1987a), although larvae of this species inhabit brackish water.

Notes: Orbital gland structure of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, was examined at the macroscopic, light microscopic, and electron microscopic levels. The gland completely encircles the ocular globe in a belt-like fashion near the conjunctival fornix but is considerably more developed medially. Duct openings are scattered throughout the fornix and over the surface of the palpebral conjunctiva. Microscopically, the gland has a tubuloalveolar arrangement; alveolar cells contain numerous secretory vesicles which can be interpreted as two structural types by light and electron microscopy. Histochemical staining demonstrates that both types contain glycosaminoglycans. Lipid analysis of the glandular secretion (dolphin tears) shows them to be non-oily and to contain only negligible amounts of cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, and free fatty acids. The secretion is clear, slippery, and viscoelastic and well-adapted to protecting the eye and to reducing frictional forces between the eye surface and surrounding seawater.

Notes: The muscle fibers of the feline biceps femoris have tapered ends, across which tension is transmitted to the endomysium. The angle of taper of 11 ends, measured on scanning electron micrographs, varied between 0.16° and 1.18°. The muscle fibers are highly variable in cross-sectional shape. The shape of the fibers has been quantified as the ratio (form factor [FF]) of the measured perimeter to the calculated circumference of a circle having an area equal to that contained by the fiber perimeter. The FF for 173 terminal portions of fibers varied between 1.06 and 1.85 and was found to have a highly significant negative correlation with sarcomere length. The slope of the regression line suggests that the fibers maintain both volume and surface area as they change length. These studies suggest that isovolumic muscle fibers maintain a constant surface area by changing shape as they change length.

Notes: Salt glands of the domestic duck Anas platyrhynchos differ from those of the herring gull Larus argentatus and other birds. In ducks, each salt gland consists of distinct medial and lateral segments. Centrally located drainage ducts that extend along the entire length of these medial and lateral segments collect hypertonic fluid secreted by an array of lobules. Each lobule is formed by a single mass of branched tubules in which the direction of capillary blood flow is opposite to that of the secreted fluid. This fluid drains from the medial segment through an external duct that opens into the nasal cavity at the base of the vestibular fold. A duct from the lateral segment loops and opens onto the surface of the nasal septum. The structure and function of the secretory cells is reviewed briefly within the context of our study of the configuration of duck nasal salt glands.

Notes: A contrast radiographic study of pelvic fin drainage in rays reveals considerable differences in patterns of drainage among the species studied. The “typical” shark pattern of drainage, to the lateral abdominal vein, is also found in rays with shark-like morphology. However, variation in the connections of pelvic fin veins to muscular and cutaneous vessels of the pectoral fin occurs in the more “derived” batoid groups, with marked differences between rays of similar external morphology and mode of locomotion. There is a positive association between the pattern of fin drainage and the number of radial cartilages in the posterior (metapterygial) lobe of the pectoral fin. Variation in shark pelvic fin drainage may also be related to differences in pectoral fin morphology.

Notes: Dissections of Sudan black B stained specimens reveal that, of a complex of medial, intermediate, and lateral muscles of skates, presumed homologous to the cucullaris of sharks, only the lateral muscle is innervated by a branch or branches of the vagus and is inserted, in part, to the fused pharyngobranchials of the caudal visceral arches. The medial and intermediate muscles are supplied by separate branches of rostral spinal nerves and do not attach to the branchial skeleton. The lateral muscle therefore is the most likely homologue of the cucullaris (trapezius) of sharks and perhaps other fishes and tetrapods. The medial and intermediate muscles appear to be part of the axial musculature.

Notes: An immunocytological study of four different parts of the gut of Helix aspersa clearly demonstrates the presence of many cells and fibers immunoreactive toward antibodies directed to vertebrate (α, β-endorphin, α, β-MSH, ACTH 1-24 and ACTH 17-39, met-enkephalin, somatostatin, insulin, glucagon, P.P., serotonin) or invertebrate (FMRF-amide) peptides.These results are evidence of the presence of different substances related to known peptides or amines in the epithelial and connective tissue cells and nerve fibers of the snail gut. Immunocytochemistry may help to elucidate the morpho-functional characteristics of the enteroendocrine cells of H. aspersa.

Notes: A histochemical investigation of kidney and lower intestine of the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) shows no carbonic anhydrase activity in proximal convoluted tubules, although activity is seen in similarly prepared sections of rat proximal tubules. Early distal tubule cells in the starling are stained throughout the cytoplasm and at the apical and highly infolded basolateral membranes. Late distal tubules lose apical activity and have reduced basolateral infolding, resulting in less intense staining. Darkly stained intercalated cells appear in the connecting tubules and cortical collecting ducts. Both of these segments also show intense basolateral staining. Medullary cones of the starling are highly organized, with central zones containing unstained thin descending limbs of loops of Henle, surrounded by both medullary collecting ducts with only scattered cells staining for enzyme, and by thick ascending limb segments. The latter contain many uniformly stained cells intermingled with occasional unstained cells. Scattered cells of the starling colonic villi demonstrate intense apical brush border membrane staining as well as cytoplasmic staining. Cells lining the cloaca stain less intensely. A biochemical assay for carbonic anhydrase was used to quantify enzyme activity in these tissues. Starling kidney contained 1.96 ± 0.33 (mean ± SEM) enzyme units/mg protein, less than half the activity seen in rat kidney. Stripped colonic epithelium contained 0.66 ± 0.15 enzyme units/mg protein. These quantitative results correlate well with the interpretations derived from the histochemical observations. The lack of proximal tubule carbonic anhydrase activity suggests that the avian kidney relies more on distal nephron segments to achieve net acidification of the urine.

Notes: The orientation of the fibers in the dermis of the tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, undergoes a dramatic repatterning at metamorphosis. The pre-metamorphic, larval dermis is a tight layer composed of crossed fibers that wind helically around the trunk. This condition is retained by neotenic adults which do not undergo metamorphosis. In contrast, the metamorphosed adult dermis consists of a superficial, loose network of fibers invested with large multicellular glands - -the stratum spongiosum - and a deeper tight layer of fibers - the stratum densum. However, unlike the crossed fibers of the pre-metamorphic dermis, there is no preferred orientation to the fibers in either layer of the post-metamorphic dermis.In order to evaluate whether these two distinctly different fiber patterns are constructed from biochemically similar fibers, the collagen types present in the pre- and post-metamorphic dermis were determined using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Type I collagen is the predominant collagen of the dermis and the same major collagen types are present for all individuals, whether preor post-metamorphic. Thus, the major types of collagen that compose the dermal fibers do not change during metamorphic repatterning of the dermis.

Notes: In the first half of this century, several workers observed small, seemingly glandular structures attached to the ampullate glands of spiders. Hence, they were termed accessory ampullate glands. In juvenile Araneus cavaticus, two pairs of these structures are present (starting at least with third instars), one pair attached to the major ampullate (MaA) glands and the other pair attached to the minor ampullate (MiA) glands. In adults, two pairs of accessory MaA glands and two pairs of accessory MiA glands are present. The two latter-formed pairs of accessory ampullate glands are clearly the remnants of those ampullate glands which atrophy shortly after adulthood is reached. Morphological similarities between these accessory ampullate glands and those present in juveniles provide an indication that the latter also have their origin in functional ampullate glands.A reduction in the number of ampullate glands following the last molt occurs in many spiders. The reason(s) for these reductions is unknown. In penultimate spiders close to ecdysis, we have observed that while the larger pairs of MaA and MiA glands (those that are retained in the adult) are undergoing molt-related changes which apparently render them nonfunctional, their smaller counterparts are seemingly unaffected and functional. This raises the possibility that the principal role of the smaller ampullate glands may be to assume functions during the pre-ecdysial period which are normally in the domain of the larger ampullate glands. If true, then their degeneration after the last molt would make economic sense.The presence of cylindrical spigots in juvenile females starting with fourth instars is documented.

Notes: Three basic types of cells are distinguished in the rat vomeronasal epithelium at birth: bipolar neurons, supporting cells, and basal cells. Neurons at this time include both immature and differentiated cells. By the end of the first postnatal week, all neurons show morphological signs of maturity in their cytoplasm, including abundant granular and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, neurotubules, dense lamellar bodies, apical centrioles, and tufts of microvilli. During the third week microvilli are more frequently encountered and appear to be longer and more branched. Supporting cells appear well-developed by the second day after birth. During the first ten days of life, supporting cells lose their centrioles and all of the complex associated with ciliary generation in the apical zone. Basal cells appear to be more numerous in newborns than in older animals. Protrusions projecting into the lumen are frequently observed in the epithelium of newborn animals, both on the dendrites of neurons and on supporting cells. After the third week, such protrusions are only observed in the transitional zone between the sensory and the non-sensory epithelia of the vomeronasal tubes. In this transitional zone, a fourth cell type showing apical protrusions with microvilli differentiates. Cytoplasm in this type resembles that of neighboring ciliated cells but has no cilia or centrioles. These transitional cells are considered to be cells in an intermediate state of differentiation, between that of the differentiated neurons and supporting cells of the sensory epithelium and that of the predominate ciliated cells of the non-sensory epithelium. The results suggest that by the end of the third week the vomeronasal epithelium is morphologically mature.

Notes: The wall of the stomach of the tigerfish is described and compared with that of other vertebrates. Light microscopic and ultrastructural characteristics of the stomach wall correspond to a large extent to those of other vertebrates, although some differences are found. The mucosa contains (1) surface epithelium characterized by narrow columnar cells with abundant mucous granules; (2) gastric glands consisting of pepsinogenic cells of variable height, containing tubulovesicles and bearing microvilli; (3) five granulated cell types located basally in the epithelium (types 1-5); and (4) lamina propria and muscularis mucosae. Connective tissue separating smooth muscle fibers of the muscularis mucosae constitutes a stratum compactum. The submucosa contains a loose connective tissue, a tunica muscularis of inner circular and outer longitudinal layers, and a serosa of mesothelium and subjacent connective tissue. Immunocytochemical tests with antisera to five polypeptides show gastrin/cholecystokinin (CCK), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) immunoreactivities in some cells of the gastric glands, and somatostatin in cells lying among epithelial cells lining the gastric luminal surface or gastric pits.

Notes: Previous studies by Stephens and McNulty and Strecker and Stephens have demonstrated that foil barriers placed between the mesonephros and lateral plate at stages 12 to 15 inhibited limb development, but foil barriers placed between the neural tube and somites at stages 11 to 12 resulted in limbs with normal skeletal patterns. It was concluded that some influence present in the paraxial region of the embryo at stages 11 to 15 is necessary for normal limb development. The present study was undertaken to localize that influence more precisely. Foil barriers were placed in the lateral edge of the somites or segmental plate of stage 10 to 15 chick embryos. Barriers placed into stage 13 to 15 embryos resulted in chicks with normal limbs, but barriers placed into stage 10 to 11 embryos resulted in chicks with defective limbs. Barriers inserted just lateral to Hensen's node at stages 6 to 8 resulted in embryos with defective or absent wings. We also grafted stage 4 to 9 presumptive limb territories with and without Hensen's node. Explants without Hensen's node formed limb-like structures in 1% of the cases. Explants with Hensen's node formed limb-like structures in 27% of the cases. When barriers were implanted and a node was placed on the lateral side of the barrier, limbs formed in 40% of the cases. These data suggest a medial to lateral progression of some as yet unknown morphogenetic influence necessary for normal limb development and we hypothesized that the influence may initially emanate from Hensen's node.

Notes: The limb bone skeleton of the moa, a family of extinct ratite birds endemic to New Zealand, is described with particular reference to the anatomical and functional significance of osteological landmark form variation. The results generally support the existing classification of moa. Four genera, Megalapteryx, Anomalopteryx, Dinornis, and Pachyornis, were found to be evolved within moa, with Emeus and Euryapteryx possibly being more primitive. Megalapteryx was found to be less mobile than other moa genera. The Dinornis species were found to be more cursorial and more mobile relative to other moa. They may also have had a different center of gravity. A marked development of the lower leg in Anomalopteryx suggested a digging habit associated with food procurement.

Notes: A detailed description of muscular and skeletal features of the pelvi-cloacal region of the amphisbaenian Blanus cinereus reveals that the species has real hind limbs articulating with a real pelvic girdle. Arguments support this homology: 1) a link with the vertebral column; 2) a movable articulation, showing all the features of a diarthrosis, between the femur and the acetabulum; 3) all the long bone characteristics for the femur which distally bears a horny element. The morphological peculiarities of the amphisbaenian pelvic girdle are generally close to those of lizards, but the pubis seems to be more reduced. For the same number of precloacal vertebrae, the amphisbaenians have more appendicular elements than lizards have, and this composition recalls that of the Leptotyphlopidae, Aniliidae, and Boidae. The account provides more information concerning the aponeuro-tendinous system associated to the skeleton of the girdle and the hindlimb, the musculature, and the interrelations between the different structures of the pelvi-cloacal region.

Notes: Programmed cell death is an integral and ubiquitous phenomenon of development that is responsible for the reduction of wing size in female moths of Orgyia leucostigma (Lymantriidae). Throughout larval and pupal life, cells of the wing epithelium proliferate and interact to form normal imaginal discs and pupal wings in both sexes. But at the onset of adult development, most cells in female O. leucostigma wings degenerate over a brief, 2-day period. Lysosomes and autophagic vacuoles appear in cells of the wing epithelium shortly after it retracts from the pupal cuticle. Hemocytes actively participate in removing the resulting cellular debris. By contrast, epithelial cells in wings of developing adult males of O. leucostigma do not undergo massive cell death. Wing epithelium of female pupae transferred to male pupal hosts behaves autonomously in this foreign environment. By pupation, cells of the female wing apparently are committed to self-destruct even in a male pupal environment. Normal interactions among epithelial cells within the plane of a wing monolayer as well as between the upper and lower monolayers of the wing are disrupted in female O. leucostigma by massive cell degeneration. Despite this disruption, the remaining cells of the wing contribute to the formation of a diminutive, but reasonably proportioned, adult wing with scales and veins.

Notes: We describe the localization of lipids in the wall and superficial ooplasm of the largest avian ovarian follicles by the use of different fixatives and light and electron microscopy. We demonstrate that each yolk globule is always accompanied by one or more highly osmiophilic and sudanophilic alcohol insoluble yolk masses, which we have called satellite yolk. Together with the protein containing yolk globule it forms an integral morphological part of a compartmentalized, bipartite yolk system. Cytochemical, histoautoradiographic, biochemical, and light and electron microscopical aspects of satellite yolk were studied. At the start of satellite yolk formation in the 3-4 mm diameter follicle (when the oocyte begins to yellow) the distribution of the microcirculation of the follicle wall becomes printed on the underlying superficial ooplasm of the oocyte. The oocyte then presents so-called yolk mountains (containing satellite yolk), only localized below the thecal capillary sinus and not below the efferent and radially perforating thecal veins (black hole regions). We also describe the structural continuity between the thecal intercellular spaces and the microvilli-associated extracellular spaces of the granulosa cells via the basement membrane. The thecal cells present centripetal extensions into the basement membrane and the basement membrane material extends centripetally into the granulosa microvillar channels. Therefore, at least two cellular barriers are crossed when fat or fat precursors are transported from the thecal capillary sinus to the ooplasm.

Notes: Embryos of the poeciliid Heterandria formosa develop to term in the ovarian follicle in which they establish a placental association with the follicle wall (follicular placenta) and undergo a 3,900% increase in embryonic dry weight. This study does not confirm the belief that the embryonic component of the follicular placenta is formed only by the surfaces of the pericardial and yolk sacs; early in development the entire embryonic surface functions in absorption. The pericardial sac expands to form a hood-like structure that covers the head of the embryo and together with the yolk sac is extensively vascularized by a portal plexus derived from the vitelline circulation. The hood-like pericardial sac is considered to be a pericardial amnion-serosa. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy reveal that during the early and middle phases of development (Tavolga's stages 10-18 for Xiphophorus maculatus) the entire embryo is covered by a bilaminar epithelium whose apical surface is characterized by numerous, elongate microvilli and coated pits and vesicles. Electron-lucent vesicles in the apical cytoplasm appear to be endosomes while a heterogeneous group of dense-staining vesicles display many features characteristic of lysosomes. As in the larvae of other teleosts, cells resembling chloride cells are also present in the surface epithelium. Endothelial cells of the portal plexus lie directly beneath the surface epithelium of the pericardial and yolk sacs and possess numerous transcytotic vesicles. The microvillous surface epithelium becomes restricted to the pericardial and yolk sacs late in development when elsewhere on the embryo the non-absorptive epidermis differentiates. We postulate that before the definitive epidermis differentiates, the entire embryonic surface constitutes the embryonic component of the follicular placenta. The absorptive surface epithelium appears to be the principle embryonic adaptation for maternal-embryonic nutrient uptake in H. formosa, suggesting that a change in the normal differentiation of the surface epithelium was of primary importance to the acquisition of matrotrophy in this species. In other species of viviparous poeciliid fishes in which there is little or no transfer of maternal nutrients, the embryonic surface epithelium is of the non-absorptive type.

Notes: The flagellum of the thysanopteran spermatozoon has been examined by electron microscopy and computer-aided image analysis. The flagellum consists of 27 microtubular elements that probably are formed as outgrowths from three separate basal bodies. Nine of the elements are normal microtubular doublets that carry dynein arms and nine are doublets without dynein arms. The remaining nine elements are microtubular singlets that apparently bear dynein arms and have the same appearance as A-subtubules of microtubular doublets. The 27 elements are arranged in a fixed pattern that consists of nine groups, each of which begins with a microtubular singlet and ends with an arm-less microtubular doublet. Computer-aided image analysis has shown that the A-subtubules of the doublets and the microtubular singlets have lumens with very similar patterns. The sperm tail is known to have some motility; it generates fast waves running along its length. The amalgamated axonemes hence act as a functional flagellum. The thysanopteran sperm tail is the only type of flagellum known to us that consists of microtubules in a highly asymmetric array.

Notes: Many arachnids lack extensor muscles at the femoropatellar (knee) joint of their legs and extend this joint with hydraulic pressure during locomotion. Pressure is generated through compression of the prosoma, but there is disagreement about which muscles are involved in this process. Many arachhnologists consider contraction of the musculi laterales, a group of modified extrinsic leg muscles, as the cause of high prosomal pressure and regard hydraulic extension as a derived feature. However, integration of results from phylogenetic and comparative anatomical studies supports the view that hydraulic extension is primitive in Arachnida and that fluid pressure is generated by contraction of endosternal suspensor muscles.The functional predictions of the musculi laterales and endosternite hypotheses were tested by measuring muscle activity and prosomal pressure during unrestrained locomotion in a primitively “extensorless” arachnid, the giant whipscorpion. The results corroborate the endosternite model and refute the musculi laterales model. Changes in the prosomal pressure baseline were correlated with changes in endosternal muscle activity, while the musculi laterales fired in a step-coupled pattern of discrete bursts that appeared to be incapable of generating the pressure observed during locomotion. Step-coupled fluctuations in prosomal pressure were observed but were apparently caused by rapid flexing of the femoropatellar joints of the fourth leg pair rather than contraction of the musculi laterales.

Notes: In the fungiform papilla of Rana esculenta (Anura Ranidae), the Ca++-ATPase is mainly distributed on the basolateral membrane of the sensory area cells (i.e., neuroepithelial, supporting, and mucous cells). Apical membranes of all cells facing the surface present a slight enzymatic activity. Lateral wall cells have a strong Ca++-ATPase activity on basolateral and apical membranes. Strong Na+, K+-ATPase activity occurs on the apical surface of neuroepithelial cells. Ca++-ATPase activity is absent on the surface of endothelial cells of the capillaries located under the sensory area. These observations lead us to conclude that the sensory area of fungiform papilla is the selective way for calcium influx. Furthermore the absence of ATPase activity on the surface of the endothelial cells indicates that there is no functional barrier to calcium influx into capillary, and that calcium can be removed by vessels from the sensory area.

Notes: Spermatogenesis and sperm ultrastructure were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in the longidorid Xiphinema theresiae. All germ cell stages, except spermatogonia, are present in the testes of young adult males. The nonflagellated, slightly elongated sperm displays little intraspecific variation and, although never polarized into a head and tail region, has a remarkably precise form, with a high degree of internal organization. Incipient fingerlike pseudopodia appear in the young spermatid and increase to such an extent that the adult sperm has a conspicuous “woolly” appearance. Microfilament bundles encircle the perinuclear mitochondria in the spermatid, and seem to be closely associated with the evaginated plasma membrane, especially in the spermatozoon. A large nucleus with nuclear envelope is prominent in the spermatocyte, but the envelope is absent in the young spermatid. Mitochondria are present in all germ cell stages and undergo certain morphological changes (e.g., in size and number, presence or absence of cristae), as well as changes in intracellular movements during spermatogenesis. Membranous organelles are prominent in the spermatocyte, but disappear in the older spermatid. Annulate lamellae and a residual body (i.e., cytophore) are conspicuous in the spermatocyte and spermatid, respectively; the spermatozoon clearly lacks a refringent body (i.e., acrosome).

Notes: The morphology and distribution of muscle spindles of jaw and tongue muscles in the mallard were examined in serial transverse sections of single muscles and in horizontal sections of a whole head. Our observations on spindle morphology are in agreement with previous descriptions of spindles in birds. Some spindles differ in their innervation and the pattern of intrafusal muscle fibers. The spindles of individual adductor and pterygoid muscles are distributed unevenly. Some adductor muscles lack spindles, whereas those of other muscles are confined to limited areas. Jaw opening muscles and extrinsic tongue muscles lack spindles. The stretch of extrafusal muscle fibers could be estimated from the difference in sarcomere length for birds with the beak open and closed. Not all muscle fiber groups are stretched evenly over the whole range of jaw opening. Only those fiber groups that are continuously stretched during jaw opening contain spindles.

Notes: Living embryos of three species of South American annual fishes, Cynolebias constanciae, C. nigripinnis, and C. whitei, were observed from fertilization through the 10-somite stage. A description of normal stages of development applicable to all three species of Cynolebias is presented. Cleavage (stages 1-10) is meroblastic and produces a typical teleost blastoderm. Following cleavage (stages 11-13) blastomeres segregate into two populations, viz., (1) a population of deep blastomeres that will disperse as single motile cells, and (2) a hemispherical shell of outer blastomeres that flattens to form an enveloping cell layer (EVL). When epiboly of the EVL and the yolk syncytial layer (YSL) commences (stage 14), deep blastomeres clump together as a consolidation mass and then migrate outward as single cells on the YSL. When epiboly is concluded (stage 19), deep blastomeres have completely dispersed. If diapause does not intervene, the dispersed phase lasts only a few days. Subsequently, the dispersed cells come together to form a definitive aggregate (stage 27). Embryogenesis within the reaggregated mass of previously dispersed cells produces a typical teleost embryo.Early development in Cynolebias resembles that of other South American annual fishes, such as Austrofundulus, in that a phase of deep blastomere dispersion and reaggregation spatially and temporally separates epiboly from embryogenesis. Several features of development markedly differ from Austrofundulus. There are far fewer (250 vs. 2,500) deep blastomeres. Deep cells of Cynolebias are flattened rhomboids with filipodial extensions in contrast to the amoeboid cells of Austrofundulus. Blastomeres of dispersion and reaggregation stages in Cynolebias send out numerous cell surface extensions onto the YSL and in contact with one another, and often line up in rows as do some African annual fishes, e.g., Nothobranchius. During Dispersion II (stage 21), Reaggregation I (stage 22), and Reaggregation II (stage 23), deep cells move in an oriented pattern with respective mean velocities of 3.48 ± 0.91, 1.28 ± 0.46, and 1.31 ± 0.31 μm/minute. Cells move toward a granular mass of unknown composition, located at the YSL-yolk interface in the lower hemisphere of the egg. This mass appears to coincide with the site of cell reaggregation.

Notes: Several surfperches (Embiotocidae), including the black surfperch, Embiotoca jacksoni, exhibit a specialized prey handling behavior known as winnowing, in which ingested food and non-nutritive debris are separated within the oropharyngeal cavity. Prey items are swallowed, and unpalatable material is ejected from the mouth. Winnowing is believed to play an important role in the partitioning of food resources among sympatric embiotocids. We present a mechanistic model for this separative prey processing based on high-speed video analysis, cineradiography, electromyography, and buccal and opercular cavity pressure transducer recording.Winnowing by embiotocids is characterized by premaxillary protrusions repeated cyclically with reduced oral gape. Protrusion is accompanied by depression of the hyoid apparatus and adduction of the opercula. Alternating expansion and contraction of the buccal and opercular cavities generate regular pressure waveforms that indicate bidirectional water flow during processing. Separation of food from debris by Embiotoca jacksoni occurs in three phases. The prey-debris bolus is transported anteriorly and posteriorly within the oropharyngeal cavity and is then sheared by the pharyngeal jaws. Mechanical processing is complemented by the rinsing action of water currents during hydraulic prey transport.The feeding apparatus of Embiotoca jacksoni is functionally versatile, although not obviously specialized relative to that of nonwinnowing surfperches. Protrusion of the premaxillae and depression of the hyoid apparatus are critical to both prey capture and subsequent prey processing. The pharyngeal jaws exhibit kinematic patterns during separation of food from debris distinct from those observed during mastication of uncontaminated prey. This behavioral flexibility facilitates resource partitioning and the coexistence of E. jacksoni in sympatric embiotocid assemblages.

Notes: Quantifying shape is a broad problem in the morphological sciences. Most techniques for numerically describing shape abstract the shape into the most logical ideal Euclidean dimension. The fractional, or fractal, dimension is a simple computation that expresses shape in real, rather than ideal, space. The structured walk technique developed for the fractal analysis of rugged boundaries is applied here to the contour of the human sagittal suture in order to discriminate the separate morphological patterns of interfingering and interlocking. These attributes contribute differentially to the suture's “complexity,” a concept often used in biomechanical hypotheses. Previous techniques for estimating sutural complexity do not isolate small-scale from large-scale morphological patterns. Results indicate that despite the visual appearance of great variation, human sagittal sutures are remarkably consistent in the degree of complexity expressed separately by large-scale interfingering lateral excursions and small-scale interlocking ruggedness. There is no significant correlation between the absolute or bregma-lambda chord length of the human sagittal suture and its degree of complexity as determined by the structured walk technique.

Notes: Spermatophores in a squid, Todarodes pacificus, were observed by light and electron microscopy and were further analyzed by X-ray microanalysis (XMA) of frozen thin sections. Each spermatophore consists of a sperm mass, a cement body, an ejaculatory apparatus, and some fluid materials, all of which are covered by an outer tunic. The outer tunic consists of about 20 membranous layers, each containing straight, parallel microgrooves. Each layer's microgroove pattern is roughly in an orthogonal arrangement with respect to the next layer's pattern. The sperm mass, which is the only cellular component, consists of a sperm rope which is coiled more than 500 times. Most of the spermatozoa in the rope are arranged regularly and are enveloped in materials which are well-stained by Alcian blue. The cement body is located between the sperm mass and ejaculatory apparatus and has a hard outer shell with an arrowhead-like structure, presumably for penetration into the tissue of the female. Calcium and phosphorus are present in the shell of the cement body, which also has an affinity for alizarin red. The ejaculatory apparatus consists of two tubes, designated as the inner tunic and the inner membrane.After the spermatophoric reaction, a sperm reservoir is formed at the anterior end of the extruded and inverted ejaculatory apparatus. The sperm reservoir, which encases the sperm mass, is composed of the cement body at the anterior end and the inner tunic of the ejaculatory apparatus at the posterior end.

Notes: Spermiogenesis in the South American leptodactylid frog Odontophrynus cultripes was analyzed ultrastructurally. The spermatids undergo morphological modification while still enclosed in microtubule-rich processes of Sertoli cells. Electron-dense plates resembling junctional structures appear in regions at which the spermatids lie in close contact with the surface of Sertoli cell processes. Spermatid differentiation can be divided into five distinct stages based mainly on chromatin condensation. In the late stages, the densely compacted chromatin loses reactivity to ethanolic phosphotungstic acid (E-PTA). Helical arrangements of microtubules appear in the cytoplasm that surrounds the spermatid nucleus after the second stage. The acrosomal vesicle differentiates into a cone-shaped acrosome that caps the anterior region of the nucleus. The connecting piece, located in the flagellum implantation zone, has transverse striations, and is continuous with the axial rod. The tail is formed by a 9 + 2 axoneme, an undulating membrane, and an axial rod that is rich in basic proteins as demonstrated by E-PTA staining.

Notes: Morphology of the chromaffin cells of Triturus cristatus during a complete annual cycle has been investigated. General ultrastructural characteristics are similar for all chromaffin cells, including numerous small mitochondria, well-developed Golgi apparatus and rough endoplasmic reticulum with short cisternae. The primary difference among cells is the type of the chromaffin granules they posses. These are of two kinds: adrenalin (A) and noradrenalin granules (NA). Both types are simultaneously present in the chromaffin cells but with different ratios during the year. During December-January and May-August, NA granules largely prevail, while in September-November and February-April, A and NA granules are present in about equal quantities. The total quantity of catecholamine granules, however, is relatively constant throughout the year. These findings suggest that T. cristatus has a single type of chromaffin cell, the granule content of which varies according to different functional states. The catecholamines are apparently discharged by exocytosis.

Notes: The palatoquadrate and associated dermal bones have significant evolutionary transformations among teleostomes and provide numerous features that characterize teleostomian subgroups. The palatoquadrate forms the upper part of the mandibular arch and is present as a single cartilaginous element in the early ontogeny of teleostomes, except for some advanced teleosts such as siluroids where it is divided into pars autopalatina and pars pterygoquadrata. During ontogeny, the palatoquadrate may ossify as a unit, with a pars autopalatina (absent in Acanthodii), pars quadrata, and pars metapterygoidea in teleostomes (e.g., primitive acanthodians and actinopterygians, onychodonts, and rhipidistians). However, the palatoquadrate may remain cartilaginous (e.g., chondrosteans) or it may ossify as separate elements (e.g., autopalatine, metapterygoid, and quadrate) as occurs in advanced acanthodians, Polypterus and advanced actinopterygians, and advanced actinistians. From the single-unit pattern, separate autopalatine, metapterygoid, and quadrate evolve in parallel in the three teleostomian subgroups. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between actinopterygian and actinistian autopalatines and among acanthodian, actinopterygian, and actinistian metapterygoids and quadrates. A palatoquadrate fused with the neurocranium occurs in parallel in dipnoans.There are differences in the timing of ossification of the autopalatine, metapterygoid, and quadrate. The autopalatine ossifies late in ontogeny in Polypterus, Amia, and primitive teleosts (absent in lepisosteids and osteoglossmorphs), whereas both metapterygoid and quadrate ossify early in ontogeny. The early ossification of the autopalatine is characteristic of clupeocephalan teleosts. During ontogeny, tooth plates (not forming a separate dermometapterygoid) fuse with the metapterygoid in actinopterygians.Pars autopalatina, pars metapterygoidea, and pars quadrata are regions at the three corners of the single-unit palatoquadrate present in primitive teleostomes; there are no clear limits among these regions, but they may be identified by their processes, articular facets, and topographical relationships with surrounding bones and the orbit. Autopalatine, metapterygoid, and quadrate are chondral bones, perichondrally ossified. Dermal elements such as dermopalatine(s), entopterygoid, ectopterygoid, and tooth plates may cover the palatoquadrate medially. The predermopalatine that originates in front of pars autopalatina in Cladistia and the “dermopalatine” that lies medial to the ectopterygoid in Ginglymodi are specializations of these groups. A dermopalatine fused with the autopalatine is characteristic of clupeocephalan teleosts. Highly specialized tendon bone pterygoids are found in some teleosts (e.g., siluroids). The presence of both maxilla and lacrimal lateral to the pars autopalatina is synapomorphous of osteichthyans. The eye supported by the bony palatoquadrate is a teleostomian synapomorphy. Dermal elements support the eye in actinopterygians, the entopterygoid in advanced actinopterygians, but the ectopterygoid in lepisosteids.A quadratojugal is a synapomorphy of osteichthyans but exhibits a number of transformations in connection with the vertical pit-line and the preopercular canal; a quadratojugal bearing the vertical pit-line is the primitive condition for osteichthyans. Ontogenetic evidence does not support the homology of the membranous posterior process of the teleostean quadrate with the quadratojugal. The lack of a quadratojugal and the presence of the elongate posterior or posteroventral process of the quadrate is a synapomorphy of teleosts.

Notes: This study is based upon a series of ontogenetic stages from just before coelom formation to maturity.Primordial germ ceils are first seen at the outer edge of the lateral mesoderm and are traced from there to a position in the genital analagen. Counts indicate that most of them succeed in reaching the genital anlagen, where they from definitive reproductive cells in both sexes.The evidence seems to show that there is some transformation of somatic cells into germ cells in the immature female, but that this transformation is not extensive. In the male the primordial germ cells are the sole source of the definitive elements.

Notes: The detailed spawning habits and hatching period are described. The larval period is divided into the inactive, when the yolk is the source of food, and the active period, when food is captured. The rate of growth and transformation of the larvae into fry is described.The cell formation passes into a syncytial period, when there are produced many nuclei without cytoplasm.c division. Around these nuclei, the cytoplasm collects to give rise to more cells. The method by which mucous cells are produced is described and also the presence of secretion masses in both the mucous cells and the syncytium of the mucosa.

Notes: The teleost fish Brachydanio rerio is strikingly marked with longitudinal black stripes, which extend into the caudal fin and across the anal fin. Removal of the anal fin is followed by complete regeneration of the fin and of its normal color pattern. Microphotographic studies show that melanophores are at first uniformly distributed in the regenerating tissue and that later the melanophores disintegrate in the zone of the future light stripe and increase in the region of the future dark stripe. Observations on the normal development of the fin where the history of the individual melanophores has been followed show the same mode of formation of the stripes.

Notes: Study of living and sectioned material throughout the life cycle shows the germ-cell history from fertilized egg to sexual maturity. This can be divided into the following five periods with definite limits: Original appearance during cleavage, period of inactivity, period of multiplication, maturation, and fertilization. Primordial germ cells of characteristic structure can be recognized just before gastrulation, when there is one large germ cell in the mass of mesoderm on either side of the blastocoel. After one division in each of these two cells, the four daughter cells remain inactive, while the remainder of the mesoderm differentiates, until division is resumed in the developing gonad. An indefinite number of gametes is produced. All are direct descendants of the two original primordial germ cells. Transformation of somatic cells into germ cells does not occur nor do germ cells become somatic cells. Cell lineage shows the two primordial germ cells to be derived from the third division of the paired mesoderm cells which have arisen by an equal division of the fourth micromere produced by cell D of the four-cell stage. Details of meiosis have not been ascertained, because of the small size of the chromosomes, their large number, and the difficulty of fixation. Nothing forecasts which primordial germ cells will become ova and which spermatozoa.

Notes: Three types of cell inclusions are demonstrated within the general protoplasm of the binucleated Protoplina, parasites of Hyla aurea. These are considered to represent mitochondria, together with associated, synthesized vegetative granules and Golgi bodies, as evidenced by their behavior, morphology, and staining reactions.The Golgi material is shown to consist of irregularly twisted rods and granules scattered at random in the cytoplasm, but possessing a very distinctive morphology and reaction to different techniques when compared with the mitochondria. No relationship could be detected between these vegetative structures and the cilia, as has been previously described.These observations have also been extended to a similar study of the cytoplasmic organs of Nyctotherus cordiformis, and it has been possible to demonstrate Golgi bodies of a similar appearance within this organism as well as to show again the nature of the basal granules and their relationship to the cilia.The procedure of identifying the mitochondria elements with great care is recommended as a preliminary means of studying the Golgi apparatus of Protozoa, particularly where osmication techniques are used exclusively.

Notes: It is shown that in Prorhynchus applanatus there exists a type of yolk elaboration which has hitherto not been reported. Formation is within the nucleus through the growth and fusion of nucleoli, but the yolk globule becomes larger than the original nucleolus. The developing individual utilizes the food material contained in the yolk cells in the following order: (1) cytoplasm of the yolk cell, (2) yolk bodies contained in this cytoplasm, (3) intranuclear yolk, (4) nucleoplasm. It is also shown that the germ cells in this form arise from the endoderm by diapedesis, but that the yolk cells are mesenchymal in origin. The sequence of formation of male and female gametes precludes the possibility of the presence of sex hormones such as are found in higher forms.

Notes: A comparative study has been made of fifteen species and subspecies of rodents to determine the range in number and variation in morphology of their chromosomes. The number range is between 40 and 86±, with an average number for known species of 52. In the family of Cricetidae there is little variation in chromosome number and a general similarity of the chromosomes. In the Muridae the range for known species is 40 to 42, but the chromosome morphology even of subspecies may be quite different. In Sciuridae a range of 48 to 62 has been found in different species. The greatest range in number is found in the Heteromyidae, 44 and 86± chromosomes having been found in two species. It is concluded that the stem number for rodents is close to 48 and that fragmentation and fusion account for variation in numbers, and these affect the morphology of the chromosomes. The evidence also indicates that variations in morphology are due to translocations and inversions, and possibly deletions accompanied by translocations.

Notes: There are in scorpions two sharply contrasting types in respect to the mode of distribution of the chondriosomes to the sperm cells. In one of these the chondriosomes, spheroidal in form and nearly definite in number, are sorted out whole without division during the spermatocyte divisions, their number being thus reduced successively to one-half and one-fourth. This type occurs in Opisthacanthus, Hadrurus, Vejovis, Euscorpius, and Palamnaeus. In the other, as yet known only in Centrurus, all the chondriosomes fuse during the spermatocyte growth period to form a single ring-shaped body; and this, during the two ensuing mitoses, is accurately divided into two, four, and eight equal parts, of which each spermatid receives two. In both types alike the chondrioma is thus distributed very nearly equally to the sperm cells, but by widely contrasting processes; and in both types the spermatid chondriosomes are drawn out to form the sheath of the axial filament in the sperm tail. In Opisthacanthus there are indications of a definite process of dictyokinesis during the spermatocyte divisions.These facts are discussed in the light of the general history of the chondriosomes in other animals, with especial reference to more general problems of cell division. The present vagueness and uncertainty of our knowledge of cell division and differentiation are emphasized.

Notes: This study is concerned with the interrelationship existing among the polymorphie soldier castes of six representative subgenera of the genus Nasutitermes. By measurements of anatomical parts and camera-lucida drawings, an attempt has been made to compare these particular subgenera on a basis of gradual divergence of certain structures. For this purpose a series of tables was compiled in which apparently unstable structures were compared to a relatively stable figure in all available species of the selected subgenera.According to my findings, it was concluded that there is no strict correspondence between the major, intermediate, and minor castes of different subgenera of the genus Nasutitermes. Particular reference is made to the work of N. Holmgren ('12) and to that of J. S. Huxley on heterogonic growth.

Notes: The branchial nerve of Mytilus edulis, traced by means of serial sections, has been found to be limited entirely to the epithelial and connective tissues bordering the axis of the gills. Most of the numerous branches which originate from the branchial nerve extend posteriorly and lie close to the interfibrillar matrix of the connective tissue which supports the epithelium of this region. Fibers of these nerves have been traced to this epithelium.The chitinous supporting structures of the gills lie in close proximity to these nerves, yet neither nerves nor nerve fibers have been observed to penetrate them. Moreover, a careful study of the gill tissues fails to reveal the presence of structures which might be interpreted as nerves or nerve fibers.Since no innervation of the gills has been demonstrated, it seems probable that the ciliary activity of the gill epithelium is not regulated by means of fibers connected with the central nervous system.

Notes: Spironympha is discussed as valid genus. It was described by Koidzumi ('16); later it was redescribed by the same author as Microspironympha ('21). Therefore, according to the rules of nomenclature, it is Spironympha.The genus is compared with the related genera: Spirotrichonympha, Holomastigotes, and Microjoenia.Spironympha is characterized by four flagellar bands which are spirally wound around the anterior part of the body; these bands occur only in the anterior end, whereas in Spirotrichonympha they extend almost to the posterior end. The parabasals are few in number, and they are attached to the basal granules of the flagellar bands; the anterior end is clear and almost free from cytoplasmic granules; and there are twenty to thirty anterior flagella which are attached to the base of the centroblepharoplast or to the basal granules of the flagellar bands. An axostyle is present.No centrosome occurs within the nucleus, but the centroblepharoplast has this kinetic function.Spironympha ovalis is described as a new species. It is ovoid; the average size is 38 μ to 44 μ. An axostyle is present. The host is Reticulitermes hesperus Banks.

Notes: Four functional types of viviparity are recognized, and the last, pseudoplacento viviparity, is illustrated by a review of the embryogeny of a species of Polyctenidae. This insect normally has ten embryos in the reproductive tract in successive stages of development. The problem of fertilization is discussed, for there seems to be no spermatheca and spermatic clumps are present in the haemocoel. No organ of Berlese can be found. One, apparently a nymph, when sectioned revealed spermatozoa in even greater abundance than the mature females. Four to six of her offspring would seem to be paedogenetic.Females liberate ova that are yolk-free, and no chorion is secreted about them. Blastomeres are distinct, the embryonic envelopes are formed as usual, and hemipteran embryology occurs. The trophserosa functions until blastokinesis takes place, when the pleuropodial extensions evaginate and encompass the embryo which now lies in a pleuropodial cavity. The pleuropodia function as Lutrient organs, or psedoplacenta, until shortly before birth. At birth the embryo is a little more than one-third the adult body length and bears strongly developed setae.

Notes: A morphologic study of the labyrinth, especially on the perilymphatic space with its physiologic aspect, is presented in this paper. The perilymphatic space starts its development with the chondrification of the auditory capsule, and is completed by the end of the first third of metamorphosis. The author divides the whole spatium into two parts: the ductus perilymphaticus et diverticula and the pars spongiosa spati perilymphatici. The ductus perilymphaticus et diverticula may play an important rǒle in carrying out the functions of both equilibrium and audition. The pars spongiosa serves not only to fasten the membranous labyrinth to the capsular wall, but acts as a safeguard for the functions of both the membranous labyrinth and the ductus perilymphaticus et diverticula. The ductus system may have more important physiologic relations than does the membranous labyrinth in connection with the cranial cavity and spinal cord, as to the change of pressure, the transmission of vibrations, the osmosis of fluids, etc. A number of microscopic and schematic figures are shown with reference to the anatomic and morphologic relations of the membranous labyrinth, auditory capsule, and spatium perilymphaticum.

Notes: This investigation was made to demonstrate the direction of the current of a perfusing fluid (hence that of blood in nature) inside the so-called [renal-portal] vein of birds and to determine if this vein has any fine capillaries in the kidney substance. A domesticated male duck was anaesthetized with ether, and a warm saline (mixed with a little urea and urine) was passed through the aorta. The [renal-portal] vein was also perfused with the same fluid through the left internal iliac vein. At first the kidneys actively secreted semisolid urine, but gradually the strength of the latter varied from a milky to a watery fluid.Later, a warm carmine solution was perfused through the left internal iliac vein, and the path of the dye could be easily traced along the whole length of the left renal afferent (left [renal-portal] vein) and its final exit through the postcaval vein. The posterior lobe of the left kidney was partially tinged with red, probably due to diffusion, since the kidney substance should have taken a uniform red hue if there was any definite capillary system. The coccygeomesenteric vein contained no dye.These results (coupled with actual caliber measurements of the two [renal-portal] veins in duck and pigeon examined, the calibers of these veins increasing gradually posteroanteriorly) indicate that: 1) blood flows anteriorly in the [renal-portal] vein; 2) this vein does not break up into capillaries in the kidney substance, but receives larger affluent veins; 3) there is no [renal-portal] system in birds; 4) the urine secreted by birds is always semisolid.

Notes: The general morphological and histological evidence accumulated by this study suggests the following facts: 1Under out-of-door conditions, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, embryonic development begins at deposition and continues to the middle or late spring, when hatching occurs. The postembryonic development is completed during the summer. Copulation and oviposition occur in the late summer and early fall.2The embryonic development may be divided as follows: aThe prerevolution period, in which the rudiments of organs and systems are formed.bThe early-revolution period, during which the direction of the embryo in the egg is reversed.cThe late-revolation period, or time of yolk circumcrescence and completion of the dorsal wall of the embryo.dThe postrevolution period. comprising development from yolk engulfment to hatching.3The sexes are differentiated during the early- and late-revolution periods.4In the differentiation of the genital rudiments, a) the germ cells are segregated into groups; b) and indifferent mesodermal element grows in among the germ cells of such a group; c) the processes of this cell (the apical cell) form intimate connections with the processes of connective-tissue elements surrounding the germ-cell group; and, d) the covering membrane of the genital rudiment grows in between the various germ-connective-tissue cell groups, completing the rudiment of the follicle.5When the adult condition is reached the testis is functionally differentiated.

Notes: A vacuome (‘Golgi apparatus’) consisting of small globular inclusions has been demonstrated in Chlamydomonas sp. These inclusions may be seen in the living, unstained organism; they are stainable vitally with neutral red; they have been stained vitally with neutral red and then blackened with osmic vapor under direct observation, and they have been impregnated by osmic and silver methods without previous treatment with neutral red.The reaction of these inclusions to the iodin test for starch suggests that they may play some rǒle, possibly one of storage, in the cycle of starch metabolism.

Notes: Rickettsiae-like structures were found in the salivary gland cells of Drosophila auraria during different larval and prepupal developmental stages, from the early 3rd instar up to 14 hr after spiracle inversion. These microorganisms are surrounded by a membrane, are constantly intracellular, and occur singly or in groups. Their widespread occurrence in various tissues of other Drosophila species indicates that they can be considered as symbionts, but their actual functional significance (if any) is unknown.

Notes: Histology of each of the five segments of the oviduct of the female turtle Chrysemys picta was described for successive intervals throughout their annual cycle. Uterine and glandular segments showed marked seasonal variations in the extent and content of the submucosal and epithelial glands. Submucosal glands were most prominent in preovulatory and postovulatory animals (May to June), regressing in late summer (oviposited animals) and recrudescing the following spring. These changes correlated with variations in the muscularis layer, the number of uterine epithelial blebs, oviductal vascularity, and the presence of eosinophils in cervical segment cross-sections. These cyclic seasonal changes are discussed in relationship to reported seasonal changes in gonadal steroids in this species. Hormonal control was corroborated by oviductal response to estradiol-17β injected (1 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks) into mature, reproductively inactive (winter) animals. This treatment induced increases in glandular activity, vascularity, and distribution of eosinophils comparable to those of reproductively active (summer) animals.

Notes: Molluscan shells, including those of Gastropoda, are formed by accretionary growth at the mantle edge. The mantle is a thin membrane of skirt-like shape, which extends minutely beyond the aperture, and its edge adds a shell increment to the aperture margin so that each increment copies a configuration of the mantle edge at that time. Thus, regulation of shell morphogeny is almost equivalent to the factors which control the mantle form at the moment of shell growth. Form of the mantle skirt is considered to be kept in a state of balance between the force of its internal stress and forces acting on it such as fluid pressure or muscle contraction.The expansion behavior of the mantle skirt has been numerically analyzed by using an elastic model (DMS-tube), which represents the fundamental structure of the mantle tissue as a double membrane structure with internal springs (DMS). Four characteristic expansion patterns of the DMS-tube have been detected: (1) general outward expansion; (2) developing a ridge-like fold on an initial longitudinal protrusion of the tube edge; (3) drastic shift of the expanded state from a uniformly curved to an elliptical shape in outline, owing to the existence of a fixed boundary condition on the tube wall; and (4) constricted protrusion on the open region of the shell wall surrounding the DMS-tube. These results have the potential for answering the following questions relating to the morphogenesis of gastropod shells. How does the mantle skirt usually make contact with the inner surface of the shell wall so as to ensure continuous accretion of shell materials to the aperture margin? What is the cause of spiral ridges? Why do open coiling or minimally overlapping shells have generally circular apertures, while shells with apertures overlapped by whorls have non-uniformly curved apertural lips? What is the cause of long closed spines and why do they always appear on spiral ridges?

Notes: The larval antenna of Bombyx mori has 13 sensilla and about 52 sensory neurons in its distal portion. The axons form two nerve cords which unite in the cranial hemocoel to supply the brain as the olfactory nerve. The antennal imaginal disc, which is a thick pseudostratified epithelium continuous with the antennal epidermis, thickens markedly during the 5th instar by rapid cell proliferation. At the prepupal stage cell proliferation ceases and the disc everts to form a large pupal antenna. Simultaneously, an extensive cell rearrangement occurs in the antennal epidermis and the disc tissue becomes much thinner because of the abrupt expansion of antennal surface area. The two larval nerve cords thin down markedly by degeneration of axons, but they do not disintegrate totally even after the onset of pupation. The epidermis of the larval antenna forms the distal portion of the pupal antenna, while the imaginal disc forms the more basal portion. Development to the adult antenna occurs almost immediately after the onset of pupation; many adult neurons appear in the simple epidermis facing toward the thick outer side of the newly formed pupal cuticle. By 12 hours after the onset of pupation, these neurons align themselves in many transverse rows which are the first sign of the adult antennal configuration. Addition of these neuronal axons to the once-thinned nerve cords causes resumed thickening of the cords during the first 24 hours and thereafter. Differentiation of adult sensilla begins in the next 24 hours and is almost completed at the third day of pupation, which requires a total of 10 days.

Notes: Sensilla diversity and abundance were extremely high on the apex of the maxillary and labial palpi of two species of Gryllacrididae. The terminal segment of the maxillary palpi of these species had 9 and 15 sensilla types, respectively, and up to 2,834 sensilla. The labial palpi had 7 and 12 types, respectively, and up to 5,195 sensilla. Several types of multiporous smooth and ridged olfactory basiconic sensilla, and coeloconic, coelosphaeric, placoid, and multipapilliform sensilla occurred, as well as many trichoid sensilla and the more typical uniporous basiconic contact receptors. Two species of the closely related Stenopelmatidae were compared to the gryllacridids and found to have similar sensillar diversity and abundance, but three species of the more distantly related Tettigoniidae had only 4 or 5 sensilla types and a total number ranging from 320 to 960 on their maxillary palpi.

Notes: The results of volumetric measurements led Hanström ('28) to suggest that specialized neuropil in the brain, the so-called central body (CB), may be of particular importance in the nervous control of web building behavior in spiders. We compared the volumes of the various brain regions in four spider species clearly differing in lifestyle and web building behavior: an orb weaver (Nephila clavipes), a wandering spider (Cupiennius salei), a jumping spider (Phidippus regius), and a bird spider (Ephebopus sp.). Our results obtained in adult animals as well as our observations on the postembryonic development of the brain do not support Hanström's hypothesis. The relative share of the CB in the brain is very similar in all four species (ca. 3.1 to 5.1%). The differentiation of the CB into a clearly demarcated two-lobed structure does not coincide with the onset of web building behavior in Nephila. The CB of both Nephila and Cupiennius is already clearly recognizable in spiderlings which have not even left the egg sac.

Notes: The venom gland of Crotalus viridis oreganus is composed of two discrete secretory regions: a small anterior portion, the accessory gland, and a much larger main gland. These two glands are joined by a short primary duct consisting of simple columnar secretory cells and basal horizontal cells. The main gland has at least four morphologically distinct cell types: secretory cells, the dominant cell of the gland, mitochondria-rich cells, horizontal cells, and “dark” cells. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the mitochondria-rich cells are recessed into pits of varying depth; these cells do not secrete. Horizontal cells may serve as secretory stem cells, and “dark” cells may be myoepithelial cells. The accessory gland contains at least six distinct cell types: mucosecretory cells with large mucous granules, mitochondria-rich cells with apical vesicles, mitochondria-rich cells with electron-dense secretory granules, mitochondria-rich cells with numerous cilia, horizontal cells, and “dark” cells. Mitochondria-rich cells with apical vesicles or cilia cover much of the apical surface of mucosecretory cells and these three cell types are found in the anterior distal tubules of the accessory gland. The posterior regions of the accessory gland lack mucosecretory cells and do not appear to secrete. Ciliated cells have not been noted previously in snake venom glands.Release of secretory products (venom) into the lumen of the main gland is by exocytosis of granules and by release of intact membrane-bound vesicles. Following venom extraction, main gland secretory and mitochondria-rich cells increase in height, and protein synthesis (as suggested by rough endoplasmic reticulum proliferation) increases dramatically. No new cell types or alterations in morphology were noted among glands taken from either adult or juvenile snakes, even though the venom of each is quite distinct. In general, the glands of C. v. oreganus share structural similarities with those of crotalids and viperids previously described.

Notes: The organization of identified neurosecretory cell groups in the larval brain of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, was investigated immunocytologically. Computer-assisted three-dimensional reconstruction was used to examine the architecture of the neurosecretory cell groups. The group III lateral neurosecretory cells (L-NSC III) which produce the prothoracicotropic hormone are located dorsolaterally in the protocerebrum and extend axons medially that decussate to the contralateral lobe prior to exiting the brain through the nervi corporis cardiaci I + II. The group IIa2 medial neurosecretory cells (M-NSC IIa2) are located anteriorly in the medial dorsal protocerebrum. The axons of these cells also exit the brain via the contralateral nervi corporis cardiaci I + II. However, their axons traverse a different pathway through the brain from that of the L-NSC III axons. Each of the cell groups possesses elaborate dendrites with terminal varicosities. The dendrites can be classified into specific fields based upon their location and projection pattern within the brain. The dendrites for these two neurosecretory cell groups overlap in specific regions of the protocerebral neuropil. After the axons of these neurosecretory cells exit the brain through the retrocerebral nerve, they innervate the corpus allatum where they arborize to form neurohemal terminals in strikingly different patterns. The L-NSC III penetrate throughout the glandular structure and the M-NSC IIa2 terminals are restricted to the external sheath. A third group of cerebral neurosecretory cells, the ventromedial neurons (VM) which stain with the monoclonal antibody to prothoracicotropic hormone in Manduca, are located anteriorly in the medial region of the brain. The axons of these cells do not exit the brain to the retrocerebral complex, but rather pass through the circumesophageal connectives and ventral nerve cord. These neurons appear to be the same VM neurons that produce eclosion hormone. One dendritic field of the L-NSC III terminates in close apposition to the VM neurons. The distinct morphologies of these neurosecretory cell groups in relation to other cell groups and the distribution of neuropeptides within the neurons suggest that insect neurosecretory cells, like their vertebrate counterparts, may have multiple regulatory roles.

Notes: The micropylar apparatus (MA) in Rhagoletis cerasi (Diptera, Tephritidae) is located at the anterior pole of the egg and consists of two parts: an outer chorion and an inner vitelline membrane. Sperm entry takes place through the micropylar canal, 2.0-2.5 μm in diameter, which penetrates the micropylar endochorion and terminates in the thick vitelline membrane, thus forming the “pocket.” The pore of the micropylar canal, i.e., the micropyle, is covered by the exochorionic tuft.The formation of the MA is accomplished by 40 micropylar cells during oogenesis. These cells secrete the successive eggshell layers: the vitelline membrane, the wax layer, the innermost chorionic layer, the micropylar endochorion, and the exochorion. Two among 40 micropylar cells differentiate and form two tightly connected projections. The latter contain a bundle of parallel microtubules and participate in the formation of the micropylar canal and the pocket. At the tip of the projections there are two thin extensions full of microfilaments. In late developmental stages the two projections and the extensions degenerate and leave the canal and the pocket behind. We also discuss the structural features of the MA in relation to its physiology among Diptera.

Notes: It is uncommon to find acid phosphatase activity in mature secretory granules. This paper demonstrates by light and electron microscope cytochemistry an acid phosphatase in mature secretory granules in the cells of one region of the salivary gland of Bradysia hygida (Diptera, Sciaridae). These secretory granules increase in number during larval development up to the beginning of the pre-pupal period when they undergo massive exocytosis. Biochemical assays show that upon exocytosis of the majority of the granules the total acid phosphatase activity in the granular gland region drops to 10% of the maximum reached before exocytosis. During and after exocytosis, two other acid phosphatases, eletrophoretically different and much weaker in activity, become increasingly detectable in all gland regions. At the same time, in whole mount preparations, numerous tiny acid phosphatase-positive granules (probably secondary lysosomes) become evident in all major cell types of the salivary gland. These results indicate that the S2 region of the salivary gland has mature secretory granules containing an acid phosphatase destined for exocytosis which is different in molecular properties from other acid phosphatases (likely lysosomal) made by the gland.

Notes: The general histology and ultrastructure of the tongue and anterior process of the sublingual plica of four Taiwanese venomous snakes, the Chinese cobra (Naja naja atra), banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus), Taiwan habu (Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus), and bamboo snake (Trimeresurus stejnegeri stejnegeri) are described.The tongue fork exhibits a mid-dorsal invagination that broadens gradually toward its base. No mid-ventral invagination is observed. The epithelial cells on both dorsal and ventral aspects of the tongue fork have large and small microfacets, micropores and microvilli. The cell size, distribution pattern of the large microfacets, and the number of small microfacets present on both sides of the fork are essentially the same within a species, but vary among species. The function of these ultrastructures on the cell surface might be for the capture of chemical substances. The large microfacets are raised areas of the cell membrane, each with a pale granule contained within. The chemical nature of the pale granule is not yet known. The small pores surrounding the large microfacets are shallow hollows left after the release of the pale granules from the microfacets. The basic histological pattern of the tongue fork of these species is similar, being composed of a mucosal layer outside and dense musculature inside. No taste buds are discernible.The anterior processes are concave-like expansions of the anteriormost portions of the sublingual plicae. The oblique folds and micropapillae of this organ might be helpful for receiving the chemicals collected on the tongue, when the tongue makes contact with the elevated processes. The elevated processes may penetrate the ducts of Jacobson's organs to effect the final transfer.

Notes: The scaleless notothenioid Gymnodraco acuticeps is a bottom dweller beneath the sea ice of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Gymnodraco experience unusual environmental conditions, including highly oxygenated subzero water. Skin morphology is evaluated with reference to its potential as a barrier to ice propagation and as a surface for cutaneous respiration. Light and electron microscopy and histochemistry reveal skin structure that is generally similar to that of other teleosts. In the epidermis, epithelial cells are arranged in nine to fifteen layers, and two types of mucous cells are also present. Large mucous cells are most common on external epidermal surfaces, whereas small cells are more frequent on internal epithelial surfaces. Epithelial cell junctions have extensive areas of desmosomes as well as interdigitations of the cell membranes, especially in the basal and midepidermis. The dermis consists of an exceptionally dense stratum compactum. The skin is thicker than that of Bovichtus, a scaleless temperate notothenioid from New Zealand. Mean skin thicknesses at sites on the trunk are 371-711 μm. With the exception of fins that contact the substrate, epidermal thickness between rays of most fins is 70-118 μm. The epithelial surfaces of the oral and branchial cavities are 27-50 μm thick. An unusual type of connective tissue is present beneath the epidermis of the pelvic fin. It contains abundant ground substance and is similar to mucous connective tissue of the mammalian umbilical cord. Perfusions of a microvascular filling agent reveal a moderately developed cutaneous vasculature. These vessels have the dimensions of capillaries (mean external diameter 11 μm). They are confined to the dermis and are more prominent on the head than on the trunk. The skin is secondary to the gills as a respiratory surface in Gymnodraco.

Notes: To determine the separate spermatogenic actions of FSH and testosterone, adult male lizards Hemidactylus flaviviridis with recrudescent testes were administered the non-steroidal antiandrogen flutamide either alone or in combination with FSH or testosterone, and the histology and histochemistry of the testes and ductus epididymides were studied. Flutamide-treated animals displayed a marked hypertrophy of Leydig cells. A few spermatids were also seen in testis of more than half the animals treated with flutamide. Flutamide also produced a significant increase of primary spermatocytes; no spermatids were observed in controls. A significant inhibition of spermatogenesis was noted in lizards treated either with testosterone alone or in combination with flutamide. Ovine FSH treatment caused a significant stimulation of spermatogenesis, as indicated by the increase of primary and secondary spermatocytes and the transformation of secondary spermatocytes into spermatids or, in a few cases, into spermatozoa. A considerable depletion of sudanophilic lipid and moderate Δ5-3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity was noted in the Leydig cells of FSH-treated animals indicating enhanced steroidogenesis. Similar results were obtained when lizards were treated with flutamide + FSH. The effects of simultaneous treatment of flutamide with FSH or testosterone on ductus epididymidis revealed that flutamide markedly inhibited the epithelial cell height and lumen diameter with a loss of luminal content when compared to FSH or testosterone-treated lizards.

Notes: An immunohistochemical study of the localization of cytotactin and cytotactin-binding (CTB) proteoglycan throughout embryonic development of the anuran Xenopus laevis reveals that both appear in a restricted pattern related to specific morphogenetic events.CTB proteoglycan expression is first detected during gastrulation at the blastopore lip. Later, it is seen in the archenteron roof around groups of cells forming the notochord, somites, and neural plate. Cytotactin first appears after neurulation, and is restricted to the intersomitic regions. Both molecules appear along the migratory pathways of neural crest cells in the trunk and tail. Later, cytotactin is present at sites where neural crest cells differentiate, around the aorta and in the smooth muscle coat of the gut; CTB proteoglycan is absent from these sites. In the head, cytotactin is initially restricted to the regions between cranial somites, while CTB proteoglycan is distributed throughout the cranial mesenchyme. The expression of both molecules is later associated with key events in chondrogenesis during the development of the skull. After chondrogenesis, CTB proteoglycan is distributed throughout the cartilage matrix, while cytotactin is restricted to a thin perichondrial deposit. Both molecules are expressed in developing brain.These findings are compared to studies of the chick embryo and although distinct anatomical differences exist between frog and chick, the expression of these molecules is associated with similar developmental processes in both species. These include mesoderm segmentation, neural crest cell migration and differentiation, cartilage development, and central nervous system histogenesis.

Notes: During metamorphosis of Xenopus laevis the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins cytotactin and cytotactin-binding (CTB) proteoglycan, and the cell adhesion molecules N-CAM and Ng-CAM, appear in highly restricted patterns determined by immunofluorescence histology.During limb development, cytotactin appears from the earliest stages in a meshwork of ECM fibrils associated with migrating mesenchymal cells forming the limb bud. Cytotactin also appears in the ECM between the apical limb ectoderm and mesenchyme. Later, both cytotactin and CTB proteoglycan appear co-localized within the central (prechondrogenic) limb mesenchyme. During chondrogenesis in these areas, cytotactin becomes restricted to perichondrium, while CTB proteoglycan is expressed throughout the cartilage matrix. The premyogenic mesenchyme surrounding the chondrogenic areas expresses N-CAM. Later, N-CAM is concentrated at the myogenic foci where cytotactin appears at sites of nerve/muscle contact and in tendons.Expression of these molecules in the blastemas of regenerating limbs was also studied, and during development of the central nervous system, stomach, and small intestine.Analysis of the expression patterns of cytotactin and CTB proteoglycan throughout development and metamorphosis reveals several consistent themes. The expression of these molecules is highly dynamic, often transient, and associated with key morphogenetic events. Cytotactin appears at multiple sites where cells undergo a transition from an undifferentiated, migratory phenotype to a differentiated phenotype. One or both molecules appear at several sites of border formation between disparate cell collectives, and CTB proteoglycan expression is associated with chondrogenesis.

Notes: In artificial fluid, the spermatozoa move as linear cells or round up and rotate, propelled by spontaneous bending of their tails. Both linear and rounded cells can move forward and backward, but usually they move forward. The tails of all cells display, simultaneously, small primary bends and fewer, much larger secondary bends. Rounded cells form single secondary bends that remain unchanged as the cells rotate. They also form “node-like” primary bends that travel posteriorly or anteriorly as the cells rotate forward or backward, respectively. Linear cells move their anterior regions into and out of focus in a cyclic fashion. They form rather prominent primary bends, as well as two to four secondary bends that travel posteriorly as the cells move forward. Secondary bends change in shape continuously and are not sinusoidal. The cells follow approximately linear trajectories, but the distances traveled per cycle, speeds, and secondary bending patterns are variable. When methyl cellulose is added to artificial fluid, linear movement is improved, and forward speeds are approximately tripled. The movement of spermatozoa in natural fluid of the female reproductive tract is remarkably less stereotyped than that of cells in artificial fluid. The cells, usually resembling straight lines or arcs, are very flexible and active. They lack obvious cyclic activity and double bending patterns. They are capable of moving both forward and backward and of adjusting their bending activity and speed within rather wide limits. Their average forward speed is about nine times faster than that of cells in artificial fluid.

Notes: The neuromuscular organization of feline anterior sartorius was examined using three experimental approaches. First, the branching pattern of the nerve supplying anterior sartorius was inspected in muscles taken from a large number of feline cadavers. All muscles were found to be supplied by two major nerve branches, one directed proximally and the other directed distally, and most muscles (42/51) had a third distinct branch that entered the muscle centrally. Second, the motoneuronal populations supplying the three nerve branches were investigated by electrophysiological techniques. Motoneurons that supplied axons to the distally-directed branch did not appear to have collaterals in more proximally-located branches. In contrast, other motoneurons supplying the proximally-directed branch also appeared to supply axon collaterals to the centrally-directed branch. This result suggested that the motoneuronal population of the distally-directed branch was largely separate from that supplying the proximally- and centrally-directed branches. Third, the motor unit territories supplied by different nerve branches were mapped using glycogen-depletion methods. Muscle fibers supplied by the distallydirected nerve branch were mostly distributed to the medial portion of anterior sartorius, whereas the fibers supplied by the other two branches were generally found more anteriorly. Further, the muscle fibers supplied by an individual nerve branch were present in greater numbers at the end of the muscle closest to the entry point of that branch. Thus, the motor units supplied by discrete nerve branches were found to be distributed asymmetrically within anterior sartorius, but were arranged neither strictly in-parallel nor strictly in-series.

Notes: The larvae of Halicryptus spinulosus bear six rings of sensory/ locomotory appendages. Twelve pedicellate flosculi, 6 dorsal and 6 ventral, are associated with the neck-lorica junction. Newly described are two rows of 4-5 flosculi present on the dorsal and ventral plates, and 2 tubuli located on each dorsolateral and ventrolateral plate near their junction with the midlateral plate. The ultrastructure of all organ systems is described. The multilayered lorica differs significantly from that of other priapulids. The anterior fourth of the lorica is not underlain by epidermal cells. At the junction of the introvert and neck are a series of adhesive tubuli that have groups of secretory cells basally. A gland is described at the junction of the fore- and midgut.

Notes: High speed video recordings (200 fields per second) of prey capture and food processing in Agama agama permit the identification of strikes, chews and transport movements. Ten variables from strike movements and seven variables from chewing sequences are digitized; transport movements are inspected only. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses disclose significant interindividual differences for three variables (maximum gape distance, maximum head angle, and maximum throat distance); but neither these nor principal components analysis show differences between strikes and chews for any of the gape change and hyoid depression variables. However, strikes and chews obviously differ in tongue protrusion and body movements. Chewing may be divided into four stages, comparable to those of transport cycles of other lizards and the generalized tetrapod model. Transport differs from chewing by having a shorter power stroke and relatively more cranial and less jaw movement. The kinematics of feeding in Agama agama are compared with those of other lizards studied previously.

Notes: Homologous chromosomes entering parasynapsis are already split. This split evidently originates in each chromosome in the resting period prior to the last spermatogonial division. In the prophase of this division the daughter chromonemata in each halfchromosome were probably incompletely separated, but the succeeding telophase effects the completion of their separation. These processes are accompanied and suceeded by an elongation, straightening, and general paralleling of the split threads and by an elongation of the cell and its nuclear space.Parasynapsis begins with intimate approximation of the daughter threads in each homologue and is continued by approximation of the homologues at the usual [bouquet] and [zygotene] periods. There results the [diplotene] thread, which therefore consists of four completely distinct strands, but which exhibits a [two-strand] appearance due to parasynapsis between daughter chromonemata being further advanced than that between homologues.The pairing process begins at the distal ends and proceeds proximally. With parasynapsis complete, the nucleus enters the [diffuse] stage On emergence, disjunction is seen to have progressed from the distal ends to near the proximal ends in each pair and the [tetrads] have taken form. In the prephase that follows each strand in a tetrad may [crimp] independently, and with the condensation and matrix (?) formation that accompany it there results the spermatocyte ‘tetrad.’

Notes: An investigation into the number of chromosomes in thirty-seven species of Aphidiae belonging to twenty-seven geaera has shown that there is but one sex chromosome in the male cells of all but one species of Aphididae. That exceptional species is Euceraphis betulae Koch.The number of chromosomes and body characters are so closely correlated that we can safely judge the evolutional scale of any aphid by its number of chromosomes.In Aphididae the least number of chromosomes seems to be the most primitive.The number of chromosomes varies with the genera. The highest number is 1811 + X = 37 chromosomes, the lowest being 211 + X = 5 (diploid in male).The increase in the number of chromosomes seems to have been brought about by transverse divisions of the primitive chromosomes.The genus Tuberolachnus with 311 + X = 4 elements (♂) represents altogether different chromosomes characters from the genus Pterochlorus with 8 elements.In the genera Periphyllus and Calaphis there are species with a small m-element which is bivalent.

Notes: In an investigation of the hatchability of eggs from hens fed on a diet deficient in vitamin E Card found that all embryos from these eggs died during development. Study of these chicks showed that a variety of conditions were responsible for death:During early development the rate of growth and differentiation was definitely slower than under normal conditions, but malformations were rare. Some embryos died during the first two days, due to disintegration of the circulatory system or its failure to become established. At the end of the fourth day there was a definite critical period which few specimens survived and by this time distinet pathological conditions had arisen in extra-embryonic structures. These involved wiping out of the vitelline circulation by establishment of a lethal ring in the blastoderm. This structure was produced by intensive cell proliferation in the mesoderm which resulted in choking out vitelline blood vessels and their subsequent degeneration. It also caused obliteration of the exocoele, with consequent failure of the allantois to expand. In addition, many embryos showed profuse haemorrage into the exocoele. The source of bleeding was most frequently in the atrium of the heart, and at the actual rupture peculiar cells occurred which were probably histiocytic mesenchyme cells.Although death was due directly to causes enumerated above, the ultimate responsibility rests upon conditions set up by them, namely: starvation, asphyxiation, and loss of the medium (blood) by which to carry on metabolic exchange.

Notes: In some insects the selection of individuals which recover in equal periods of time from immersion in water may be used to obtain material of approximately uniform physiological state; Drosophila melanogaster, Meigen, was found to have a mean of recovery for the males 0.97 ± 0.542 minute later than the females, which would indicate a lower metabolic rate for the males. The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newm., was found to have a mean of recovery from immersion in water of both sexes the same in August, while in September the males were retarded by 8.1 as compared with females. This would indicate that the males have and equal me abolic rate in August with the females and a lower rate in September. Carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen produce in the flies a condition of asphyxiation similar to immersion in water. [Vestigial] flies recover from immersion in water in a fashion similar to ‘wild’ flies.The recovery periods from immersion in water in the flies can be used to group individuals into those possessing approximately equal egg-laying capacities and to isolate spent individuals from others still capable of laying eggs. Yeast appears to be more of a stimulant to egg laying than it is to larval growth. Groups of flies which were fed yeast were found to average 71 per cent increase in egg laying over groups of flies that were not fed yeast. The O2 consumption of the groups of flies actively laying eggs, as contrasted with the groups which were not so active, was found in the former to be 32.9 per cent greater.

Notes: This paper discusses very briefly the ultraviolet microscope and the developments which have led to a successful technique for optically sectioning living cells; also the ultraviolet photomicrographs of living sperm cells of certain grasshoppers, which show clearly the spinning out of the chromonema from solid blocks of the diatene stage, the pairing of same in the leptotene stage, the development of the tetrads, the final distribution of the chromosomes in the resulting spermatids and their return to a spiral chromonema, each inclosed in its own vesicle. The details of the cytoplasm are equally well brought out.

Notes: Neutral-red staining in Daphnia, legume seeds, starfish eggs, and Palaemonetes shows reactions to temperature changes which may be correlated with the thermal reactions of enzymes.

Notes: The oldest parts of the fibrous, cartilaginous, and bony head skeleton of vertebrates descend from the amphioxid ancestors of the myxinoid fishes. The skeleton of the velum and jaw bars of the amphioxids transform into the jaw apparatus and hyoid-velar head skeleton of the myxinoids, and some parts are passed on by inheritance to the teleostome fishes (sturgeons). These anatomical characters prove descent with modification. The theory of the origin of jaws and hyoid from branchial cartilages is not supported by the facts, as both jaws and hyoid structures were developed long before branchial cartilages furnished material for head building. The Velata, the oldest of living vertebrates, include the amphioxids and marsipobranchs, and are marked off from the higher forms by the important organ, the velum, which separates the prebranchial from the branchial head. A remnant of the velum inherited by all of the higher vertebrates is the hyoid mechanism - an important anatomical landmark.

Notes: This work was designed to determine the ontogenetic variability of the morphology of mitochondria of the hepatic cell.The mitochondria of the cells of the hepatic diverticulum are minute spheres. These spheres enlarge, become associated, forming beaded filaments, which in turn become smooth filaments, the process culminating in the twenty-day fetus. There is no individual or lobular variabillty in fetuses of a given length. One-half day before birth the above process is reversed, so that separate spheres are found in the eight- to twelve-hour young. This enlargement and enspherulation are accompanied by an accumulation of large quantities of glycogen. After this age, the spheres become associated into beaded filaments again and the glycogen disappears, the cycle ending at thirty-three hours. From two to eight days of age there is great individual variability.Mitochondrial morphology characterstic of the adult is first found in the fourteen-day young, when cells contain long, smooth or beaded filaments, rods, and spheres. There is no lobular variation as to types of mitochondria, but only in numbers, the cells around the central vein containing fewer mitochondria than other cells of the lobule. Variation between individuals after birth is due to something other than age, type of food, period of digestion, and length of starvation. Fat is formed within spherical chondriosomes.

Notes: There are twenty-seven spermatogonial chromosomes in Tenoder'a sinensis, three of which are larger than the others and lag behind in anaphase. These three chromosomes have been traced through the prophases of the first spermatocyte to the metaphase, where they appear as a hexad. In the first spermatocyte division two of the constituent diads of the hexad pass to one pole, the remaining one to the other, thus giving rise to two types of second spermatocytes, one with thirteen and the other with fourteen chromosomes. There are twenty-eight chromosomes in somatic metaphases of the female; four of these chromosomes are larger than the others. The sex chromosomes of the male are represented by the formula Xa + Y + Xb, that of the female by 2Xa + 2Xb.Similar conditions are reported for Mantis religiosa and Stagmomantis carolina.

Notes: The onset of hibernation in Melanoplus differentialis eggs kept at high temperatures is accompanied by a fairly abrupt cessation of cell division. The total number of mitotic figures present in the different individuals of a series of embryos of this grasshopper, from eggs kept for eighteen to twenty days at 25°C. from the time of saying, was found to vary between 1000 and 4400. In contrast to the conditions found in eggs of this age, embryos from eggs kept twenty-seven days at 25°C., as well as those older and still in the hibernating state, contained few or no dividing cells. During the course of the work it was found that, in rare cases, hibernation failed to occur, a few or many of the eggs developed without a pause when kept at 25°C., and hatched at approximately the thirty-eighth day. The detection of variations in the rate of mitotic activity over short periods, as originally planned, was found impossible, because of the comparatively small number of embryos used.

Notes: Some pathological effects of supersonic waves produced by the piezo-electric oscillator described by Wood and Loomis ('27) are described.Death of fish and frogs was due to haemolysis of erythrocytes within the gill capillaries. Disruption of gill filaments, trauma, and extravasation in the head and gill region and in the peripheral musculature were noted.No effect on the nervous system was apparent histologically.Organisms were not killed in water under hyper- or hyponormal pressures. In these cases no cavitation of gases took place.Isolated frog sartorius muscle in Ringer's was not damaged.Bubbles of gas were easily observed within the muscle cells of the tadpoles when such cells were not more violently disturbed. Such bubbles were abundant in the more fluid muscles of four- or five-day tadpoles, less abundant in 15- to 35-mm. Lebistes, and entirely lacking in adult frog sartorius. Protoplasmic viscosity differences probably explain the gradient.The above-observed intracellular cavitation explains the muscular destruction, the haemolysis, the change in specific gravity of organisms subjected to the wave treatment, and may offer light upon the stimulatory effect of such waves on excitable tissues (compare Harvey, '28).

Notes: In this paper evidence is given in support of the author's statements (Rees, '30) that in ciliates in the genus Diplodinium a neuromotor apparatus, as described and figured by Sharp ('14), could not be differentiated. For the study of minute anatomy ciliates were cut into serial sections 3 μ thick. The body which in D. medium appeared to correspond to the motorium of D. ecaudatum was shown to be a fold of the middle layer of ectoplasm. Fibers, described and figured by Sharp as connecting the motorium to the organelles of locomotion and of food taking and to a ring about the esophagus, could not be differentiated. Other fibers which Sharp designated as opercular were shown to be part of a fibrillar complex extending throughout the middle layer and the inner boundary layer of ectoplasm. The walls of the esophagus were shown to be formed by the fused middle and inner layers of the ectoplasm. The esophageal fibers therefore belong also to the above-mentioned fibrillar complex. In D. medium a system of esophageal membranelles was differentiated, described, and figured. The ciliary systems of Paramaecium ecaudatum and of Diplodinium medium were shown to be strikingly similar. The principle of descent from a common ancestor adequately explains the above similarity, but is out of harmony with the discrepancies between Sharp's account of D. ecaudatum and this account of D. medium.

Notes: The flagella of the endodermal cells of hydra have their origin in the form of a cytoplasmic spherule which appears on the cell membrane just above the blepharoplast. This spherule moves outward, and in doing so forms a small cylinder, which, in time, flattens down into a ribbon-like flagellum, the edge of which is slightly thickened. Endodermal cells were found to bear from one to five of these flagella. Dissociated endodermal cells become amoeboid and are able to move about quite freely, taking up particles of food with pseudopods; these cells are also able to elaborate flagella. In the normal well-fed hydra the endodermal cells are found to fragment endogenously; these endogenous fragments pass to the tentacles and other outlying regions, where they are taken up by the endo-epithelio cells lining these regions. The endoderm is frequently thrown into villi of quite large size: these villi, when studied over a period of days, are found to deteriorate; the cells which composed them wander to the tentacles, buds, and basal regions by means of their flagella and amoeboid movement, where they deteriorate, the cell particles being taken up by the epithelio cells lining these areas.

Notes: The most important conclusion of this investigation is that the vacuome and the classical Golgi apparatus are independent cell components in the oocytes of Ophiocephalus and Rita. The same conclusion has been arrived at by Nath in Rana tigrina. The vacuoles, the Golgi elements, and the mitochondria can be seen intra vitam side by side.In Ophiocephalus the vacuoles give rise to albuminous yolk, as has been rightly claimed by Hibbard for Discoglossus and by Hibbard and Parat for Perca and Pygosteus. The Golgi elements give rise to the fatty yolk as in so many other forms of oogenesis described by Nath and others.In Rita the fate of the vacuoles and the Golgi elements is unknown, as the fish suddenly disappeared from the Ravi during the spawning period.

Notes: Between December 10th and January 24th, using red, green, and white electric lights at equal intensities of about 1.7 foot-candles, sixty-nine males, with females, were subjected nightly to, (a) constant six- and six-and-one-quarter-hour periods of illumination; (b) periods increasing gradually from one-quarter to six and one-quarter hours; (c) no added light (controls), in a basement room lighted by day from three large windows. Relative heat intensities reaching the birds were: for white, 1; for green, 2.5; for red, 10.Birds were killed for testis study at 5, 12, 16, 22, and 23 days.Refractory period was shorter, and modification of spermatogenic activity much greater, under a than under b types of treatment, as compared with controls. Effects were also more consistent.Descending order of testis activity induced at all stages was red, white, control, green, under both a and b.Effects on testis activity are not proportional to heat intensity of incident light, but depend on wave length, since green effect is not intermediate between those of white and red, as its heat intensity is. Green inhibited germ-cell activity even in birds already at normal midwinter minimal condition.Constant six-hour red-light treatments, of this intensity, induced flrst appearance of metamorphosing sperms in twenty-three days in midwinter.Apparatus and mode of light regulation and measurement are described.

Notes: A study of cell division in the chick embryo has revealed in striated muscle and in the early stages of all the principal tissues and organs a process, followed by the greater percentage of the dividing nuclei, which resembles amitosis, but is undoubtedly a highly modified form of mitosis. This process is designated ‘modified mitosis’. The belief that this is essentially mitotic rests upon the fact that a number of discrete bodies may be distinguished in the one or two chromatin masses of each nucleus. These masses, or ‘mulberries’, might easily be mistaken for nucleoli or karyosomes were it not that they exhibit division by elongation and constriction. These structures probably represent masses of minute and closely clumped chromosomes in somatic number dividing in a qualitative and a quantitative fashion. As additional evidence there are present between the dividing mulberries exceedingly fine fibers which possibly represent an attempt at spindle fibers. Neither centrosomes nor asters are present, but since, if present, they would have to be of the intranuclear variety (the nuclear membrane never disintegrating) their absence is immaterial. The nucleus divides not by constriction, but by the formation of a nuclear plate. This process of modified mitosis is probably a device which favors the speed of nuclear proliferation necessary to such rapidly growing tissues.

Notes: Mehlis' gland of a digenetic trematode, Paragonimus ohirai, is composed of two types of secretory cells, DB and CB. The less abundant type (DB) produces dense bodies, with the cytoplasm characterized by greatly distended cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum. The other type (CB) synthesizes clear, vesicular bodies. Its cytoplasm contains numerous mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum with narrow cisternae, and abundant Golgi complexes. Processes of the two cell types converge on the ootype-proximal uterine wall, pass through the epithelium, and finally open into the lumen. These proximal processes contain longitudinally arranged microtubules whose luminal ends are anchored to the epithelium by ring-form septate desmosomes. According to the distribution of the two types of processes, three different zones (DB, mixed, and CB) can be recognized within the epithelia. As the CB processes enter the lumen predominantly beyond the uterine valve region, this cell may produce secretions required for egg shell maturation or hardening. The role of DB cells (which enter the lumen more commonly in the ootype near the oviduct) remains unknown.

Notes: Variation in horn and body size of both sexes of Xylotrupes gideon australicus is normally distributed with no evidence of dimorphism in either sex. This contrasts with that of X. gideon gideon, in which males are dimorphic for horn length, but horn size varies within morphs. Males of X. gideon australicus are generally larger than females, but the distributions of all characters, except tarsal length, overlap considerably. Males have longer legs, presumably to facilitate mating.