Page:Natural History Review (1861).djvu/496

484 Second.—That, apparently, capillary vessels exist, uniting the arterial and venous branchlets ; and that the blood system is composed of vessels and sinuses with proper walls, therefore constituting a closed system.

Third.—That the so-called water system, for the ingress of water from the exterior, does not exist; but that the chambers to which this function has been attributed compose a diffused kidney—the glandular appendages in the renal chamber being for the purpose of eliminating the peculiarly urinary matters, while the fluids pass off through the agency of the capillaries of the various organs that lie in the several chambers.

Fourth.—That a rudimentary absorbent system exists in these animals, the intestinal veins assuming, in addition to their own, the function of lacteals, and the so-called fleshy appendages of the branchial hearts acting, probably, in the capacity of a general lymphatic system.

Fifth.—That there is no pericardium properly so called.

Sixth.—That the muscular fibre of the systemic heart is of the striated variety, as is also apparently that of the branchial hearts.

Seventh.—That the cephalic arteries, and those supplying the fins, are provided with bulbous, muscular enlargements, probably for the purpose of regulating the flow of the blood.

Eighth.—That the surface of the brain of Octopus vulgaris exhibits inequalities resembling rudimentary convolutions, and that the pedal nerves arise by double roots; both conditions approximating to the higher standard of the Vertebrata.

Ninth.—That the results of analysis of the nervous system corroborate the deductions derived from embryology as to the homological import of the parts.

of other countries have often taken occasion to remark, and in no complimentary terms, upon the utilitarian tendency constantly displayed by the English mind. Our everlasting seeking after hidden purposes, our infantine inquisitiveness after final causes in biological as well as other investigations, has frequently called forth contemptuous comments from foreigners, who happened to be acquainted with Bacon's famous comparison of final causes to vestal virgins. But in these latter days it has come to be acknowledged, even in England, that there are many structures in normal organisms for the existence of which no teleological explanation will suffice; and it is right to say that in no other country, and in no other time than ours, have theories for the explanation of such phenomena been more clearly enunciated. Our natural hankering after hypothesis,