20 Prof. KoLLiKER on the Structure of 



So far De Blainville. According to my views it follows from these observa- 

 tions of Madame Power, which Maravigna, as he told me himself, has repeated, 

 (presupposing that they are entitled to full confidence,) that undoubtedly a 

 vermiform animal quite similar to the Hect. Argonautce, which possesses two 

 rows of suckers, is thicker at one end, and furnished at the other with a fili- 

 form appendage, is contained in the eggs of the Argonaut. It would thus be 

 proved that the Hectocotyle which has male organs only, is the male of the 

 Argonaut. But however much I may wish to give full credit to the observa- 

 tions of Madame Power and Maravigna, I will not conceal some objections 

 which occur to me on the subject. Madame Power and Maravigna state that 

 they have seen the young vermiform Argonaut escape from the egg. It is 

 easy to perceive that everything depends on the inteipretation to be put on 

 this expression. If it is not to be taken literally ; if they merely mean to say 

 that in the egg-bag of an Argonaut they have found little worms which 

 resemble the arm of an Argonaut, nothing whatever is proved by it. But if 

 we are to take the observation exactly as it is related and not otherwise, it is 

 of the greatest importance. In this latter case the only remaining question 

 would be, whether Madame Power and Maravigna in fact found an entire 

 egg-bag attached to the shell of Argonauta full of Hectocotyle-Vike. embryos, 

 or whether they saw among eggs with the common embryos a few with ver- 

 miform animals. In the latter case the eggs might have been the eggs of 

 Hectocotyle ; in the former no doubt could remain that the Hectocotylce are 

 the males of the Argonaut. It is obvious that having made no observations 

 of my own on this point, I can give no decided opinion. All that I can say is, 

 that if Madame Power and Maravigna have actually seen an entire egg-bag 

 of Argonauta full of Hectocotyle-\\ke embryos, I for my part have not the 

 smallest doubt that the Hectocotyle Argonautce is the male Argonaut. At all 

 events, as the fact would be in a high degree contrary to all analogy, and 

 must actually be regarded as wonderful because single of its kind, new obser- 

 vations are necessary before it can be regarded as established. 



I believe that I have now said all that can be adduced in favour of the 

 conjecture that the Hect. Argonautce is the male Argonaut. As regards the 

 Hectocotyle of the Tremoctopus, I cannot adduce the same facts in its favour, 

 as I have not seen it escape from the eggs of the Tremoctopus. Still I have not 



