Blood Chemistry and Parietal Eye of Anolis carolinensis.

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Abstract
Quantitative determinations were made of total N, non-protein N, uric acid, urea, lipoid-phosphorus and glucose in the blood of the lizard (Anolis carolinensis) to ascertain if removal of the parietal eye by thermal cauterization affected these components. A total of 164 lizards were studied. These were divided into 3 experimental groups (1) intact, (2) sham-operated, (3) operated. Determinations were made on bloods of lizards which had been parietal eye-ectomized either 26 hours or 18 days previously. No statistically significant changes, which could be attributed to removal of the parietal eye, were detected in the blood in either the long or the short term experiments. A histologic study of the parietal eye indicated that this eye lacks a nerve but possesses at least 2 types of cells in the retina: sensory cells (rods), and densely laden pigment cells. It appears likely, therefore, that if the parietal eye exerts an influence over physiological processes at certain times, it does so by means of a secretion produced by the sensory cells themselves.

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