128 BULLETIN OP THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



which had died iu the Berlin Aquarium, it was found that the ovaries 

 were well developed, and a specimen which died in the aquarium in 

 Frankfort bnrst in consequence of their extraordinary development. 

 The weight of the ovaries of this animal, which weighed 22J pounds, 

 was 8 pounds and the number of eggs about 3,300,000. The absence in 

 this case of the natural means by the help of which the animal could 

 get rid of the eggs was apj^arently the cause of death. Male specimens 

 of the Conger iu an undeveloped condition I had not yet had an opportu- 

 nity of examining. On this account, in the autumn of 1879, 1 obtained 

 a number of Congers caught in the vicinity of Havre, the lengths of which 

 would range from about 60 to 70 centimeters (or 2 to 2 feet 4 inches). 

 These ate greedily and grew rapidly. But one individual was backward 

 in its development ; so that it was easily distinguished from the others. 

 This specimen, the smallest in the aquarium, died on the 20th of June 

 of the past year, and was examined by me on the same day. I was 

 pleasantly surprised, as I found sexual organs very differently formed 

 from those which I had always met with before. From a cut in the same 

 a milky fluid escaped, which upon examination with a microscope en- 

 larging 450 diameters, was found to contain a vast number of sj)erma- 

 tozoa in the liveli^ t motion, which showed a head and tail very plainly. 

 There was, therefore, no doubt about the fact that I had before me a 

 sexually mature male of Conger vulgaris. Two portions of the milt or 

 testes were cut off for the purpose of farther investigation, and the eel, 

 74 centimeters long, placed first in spirit, then in Wickersheimer's fluid. 

 On the 24th of June, in com^iany with Dr. Kabl-Riickhard, the anatomi- 

 cal discovery was confirmed. 



The testes present to the eye the appearance of long, band-like com- 

 pressed organs, attached along either side of the air-bladder by means 

 of a fold of the mesentery, and extending the whole length of the 

 abdominal cavity, ;tnd somewhat behind the vertical of the anal opening 

 I)Osteriorly. Each testicle ends in a tongue-like broader anterior and 

 narrower j)Osterior extremity, becoming thicker but narrower posteriorly, 

 and is divided into a number of lobes of unequal size by a series of 

 dorso- ventral emarginations. On the right side there are four emargi- 

 nations and five lobes. The first of these measures longitudinally 45^"™, 

 the second 70'"'", the third only partially distinguished from the fourth, 

 8'""', the fourth 43'""^, the fifth 38'"'". 



An exact enumeration of the lobes of the left testicle was not possi- 

 ble on account of the fact that a piece 5.5 centimeters had been removed 

 for more extended study. The anterior part, including the space abov0 

 named, is 98™™ long; then follows a lobe measuring 18'"'", and, lastly, 

 a portion 80'"'" long. The last is divided into three i)ortions by two shal- 

 low oblique sulci, the portions measuring 15, 27, and 28""" long, respect- 

 ivel3^ 



The thickness of the above most developed left lobe was 9™™, its 

 breadth from its mesenteric attachment to its free border 18""™. On the 



