LIFE HISTORY OF DESMOGNATII I 's I I SCA. 259 



application of water, the spermatozoa were coiled and exibited 

 none of the uncoiling movements. In this case the spermato- 

 phore was qf a much firmer consistency, which, as no male was 

 found with the female, may have been due to the longer lapse of 

 time after its transfer to the cloaca of the female. 



Kingsbury ('02) concluded from the presence of spermatozoa 

 in the cloaca of the females captured at all seasons of the year, 

 that the fertilization is internal, and further inferred from the 

 condition of the ducts and cloaca of the male at various seasons, 

 that the fertilization takes place not only in the spring but 

 possibly also in the fall. The whole subject is one which demands 

 a careful series of observations and experiments, which are, 

 however, rendered somewhat difficult, as pointed out by Kings- 

 bury, by the retired nocturnal habits of the animal. The above 

 report is at least sufficient to show that the mating in this species 

 takes place under terrestrial conditions and that the fertilization 

 is an internal one, facts which are quite in accord with the general 

 adaptation to terrestrial life shown by Desmognathus. 



In my examination of spermatozoa I have invariably noted a 

 certain appearance of which I have as yet found no mention in 

 the literature upon the subject. Spermatozoa taken in a living 

 and active condition from the ductus deferentia of a decapitated 

 male, as well as those removed from the cloaca of the female, 

 may be seen to constantly coil and uncoil, assuming in the process 

 such appearances as are show r n in Fig. 3. In uncoiling, however, 

 there is gradually revealed an elongated or oval mass (cor}, 

 apparently of semifluid consistency and of a translucent material, 

 which seems to form the core about which the coiling takes place 

 and which is enclosed in the last final loop of the tail as it uncoils. 

 As spermatozoa within the tubules of the testis do not possess 

 this structure, it is apparently acquired in the passage from the 

 testis into the duct, and is very likely a secretion of mucous 

 nature derived from certain specialized cells. Its nature and 

 source, however, as w r ell as its function require further investi- 

 gation. If it is peculiar to Desmognathus, it may \vell be an 

 adaptation to the prolonged period which must often elapse 

 between the introduction of the spermatozoa into the sper- 

 mathecae of the female and the actual fertilization of the eggs, 



