THE SPAWNING, AND THE DUEATION OF 

 DEVELOPMENT IN THE EMBRYO. 



A. THE SPAWNING. 



IN October, 1878, I visited Faro for the purpose of 

 investigating the circumstances under which the 

 Amphioxus is there seen, and I examined the condition 

 of the animal with reference to sexual maturity. At 

 this time of year the sexual products were not yet 

 fully matured ; and though I fished Pantano with 

 Miiller's net, there were to be found, on drawing the 

 net up, neither stages of development nor young 

 specimens of the Amphioxus. The whole winter 

 through, frequent repetition of the examination 

 yielded the same result. The maturing of the sexual 

 products was but a slow process. 



On the 3rd of April, 1879, I fished the surface of 

 Pantano with Miiller's net, and I found, on drawing 

 up the net, a large number of embryo stages of 

 development and larvae, with mouth and first gill- 

 slit. According to my later experiences with regard 

 to the period of development, the first spawning must 

 have taken place about eight days previously. 



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