and pendent, hanging downward nearly half the 

 length of the tail like an enormous purse. Along 

 the upper middle was a slightly gaping vertical 

 slit, the only opening to the exterior, showing 

 plainly the portal through which the eggs were re- 

 ceived from the female and through which the 

 young would issue when the time would come for 

 them to leave. 



Although the manner in which the eggs are 

 transferred to the pouch of the male was not my 

 privilege to observe, the method of their eventual 

 extrusion after hatching was a spectacle not simi- 

 larly denied. Indeed, so far as is known, but one 

 observer, Fanzago, seems to have played the part 

 of eavesdropper on these most private pursuits be- 

 tween the female and the male. According to his 

 observation, the male remained passive while the 

 female, burdened with eggs, approached him, 

 pressed her genital aperture to the opening of his 

 pouch, and then retreated. This extraordinary 

 method of copulation was repeated at short in- 

 tervals; with each contact she implanted within 

 his pouch a single egg. It is doubtlessly during the 

 transference that the egg is fertilized. 



The number of eggs thus passed by her to one 



[286] 



