99 



kjærner synbare; men meget snart sondres dog det 

 til enhver Kjærne hørende Plasma og afgrændser 

 sig ved skarpt markerede Linier. Samtidigt begyn- 

 der den terminale Celle hurtigt at voxe og fylder 

 sig med et opakt kornet Indliold, medens de 3 ovrige 

 Celler forbliver gjennemsigtige og omvendt reduceres 

 i Størrelse, saa at de tilsidst kun er tilstede som 

 xibetydelige Rudimenter ved den indre Side af den 

 egentlige Ægcelle. Denne sidste naar tilsidst (se 

 Fig. 17) en temmelig anselig Størrelse og fylder den 

 hele FoUikel, som nu springer frem fra Ovarialroret 

 som en kugleformig, kort stilket Blære. Er Æggene 

 færdige, losnes de fra FoUiklernes Vægge og træder 

 ind i Ovariernes Hule. I denne har der imidlertid 

 ansamlet sig et opakt hvidagtigt Indhold (se Tab. 

 XIV, Fig. 6), der paa friske Exemplai'er viser sig 

 overordentlig fint kornet, men paa Spiritusexemplarer 

 hurtigt eoagulerer til en oompakt gulbrun Masse, der 

 indtager Axen af Ovarialrorernes indre Hule og 

 delvis ogsaa fortsætter sig ind i Æglederen. Dette 

 Indhold synes at være et Secretionsprodukt af 

 Ovarialrorernes Vægge, bestemt til at afgive Mate- 

 rialet til den eiendommelige Skal eller Kapsel, der 

 senere omgiver hvert enkelt Æg. I Begyndelsen, 

 etterat være indkomne i Ovariernes indre Hule, er 

 dog Æggene endnu nøgne, og antager derfor for- 

 skjellige Former ved gjensidigt Tryk eller derved, 

 at de passerer igjennem trangere Steder af Ovari- 

 erne (se Tab. XVI, Fig. 16). De synes at opholde 

 sig i Ovarialhulen i længere Tid, og bliver herunder 

 ved peristalti.ske Bevægelser af Ovarierne skyvet 

 frem og tilbage, hvorved deres Overflade kommer i 

 intim Contact med det ovenomtalte Secret. Snart 

 observeres ogsaa paa dem den første Antydning til 

 Skallen (se Fig. 19), og denne er ialmindelighed 

 fuldt færdig, skjondt endnu blød og boielig, førend 

 Æggene gjennem Æglederen udfores af Legemet. 

 De samler sig deretter umiddelbart over Truncus til 

 en compact Masse, der holdes i Situs ved Hjælp af 

 <len traadformigt forlængede dorsale Lap af 9de til 

 Ilte Fodpars Exopoditer (se Tab. XIV, Fig. 1, 2). 

 Ægmassen, der ligger noget foran Midten af Skal- 

 lens dorsale Hule, viser en temmelig uregelmæssig 

 Form, med den ovre Flade stæi'kt hvælvet, den 

 nedre concav, og Kanterne uregelmæssigt indskaarne. 

 Den bæres her af Dyret i længere Tid, indtil Æg- 

 kapslerne har naaet den fornødne Fasthed, og dens 

 Farve forandres herunder gradvis fra en meget lys, 

 hvidagtig til en mørk hornbrun Couleur. De i den 

 indeholdte Æg, der er holdte sammen ved et klæb- 

 rigt Stof, er meget smaa og derfor i Regelen over- 

 ordentlig talrige. De er hvert omgivet af en høist 

 eiendommeligt udseende og meget fast Kapsel af 

 næsten turbinlignende Form (se Tab. XVI, Fig. 20, 

 ^1, 22), med 2 lodret paa hinanden stillede vinge- 

 formige Udvidninger. Langs ad den ene af disse 

 Udvidninger løber en tydelig fortykket Ribbe, hvor- 



which are somewhat cylindrical in shape, only the 

 4 cell-nuclei are visible; but very soon the plasma 

 belonging to each nucleus is separated and defined 

 by clearly-marked lines. At the same time the ter- 

 minal cell begins to grow quickly, and to be filled 

 with contents of an opaque, granular character, 

 while the 3 other cells remain transparent, and are 

 inversely reduced in size, until at last they are 

 only present as indistinct vestiges on the inner 

 side of the egg-cell proper. The latter at last (see 

 fig. 17) attains a verj^ considerable size, and fills 

 the whole follicle, which now projects from the 

 ovarial tube like a spherical, short-stalked vesicle. 

 AVhen the ova are ready, they become detached from 

 the walls of the follicles, and enter the cavities of 

 the ovaries. Here an opaque, whitish matter has 

 meanwhile collected (see PI. XIV, fig. 6), which in 

 fresh specimens appears to be very finely granular, 

 but in spirit specimens rapidly coagulates into a 

 compact yellowish-brown mass occupying the axis 

 of the inner cavities of the ovarial tubes, and is 

 also to some extent continued into the oviduct. 

 This substance seems to be a secretive product of 

 the walls of the ovarial tubes, designed to furnish 

 the material for the peculiar shell or capsule which 

 subsequently envelopes each ovum. At first, after 

 having entered the inner cavities of the ovaries, the 

 ova are still naked, and therefore assume various 

 shapes resulting from reciprocal pressure, or from 

 their passage through narrow parts of the ovaries 

 (see PL XVI, fig. 16). They appear to remain for 

 some time in the ovarial cavity, and, by peristaltic 

 movements of the ovaries, are pushed backwards 

 and forwards, their surfaces thus being brought into 

 close contact with the above-mentioned secretion. 

 The first indication of a shell is soon observable 

 upon them (see fig. 19), and, though soft and pli- 

 able, it is quite perfect before the ovum is evacu- 

 ated from the body throiigh the oviduct. The ova 

 then collect immediately above the trunk, into a 

 compact mass, which is retained in position by the 

 aid of the fUiformly elongated dorsal lappet of the 

 exopodite of the 9th, 10th and 11th pairs of legs 

 (see PI. XIV, figs. 1, 2). The egg-mass, which lies a 

 little in front of the middle of the dorsal cavity of 

 the shell, is of a rather irregular shape, with the 

 upper surface highly convex, the lower concave, and 

 the edges irregularly indented. It is carried here 

 by the animal for some time, until the egg-capsules 

 have acquired the necessary firmness, and during 

 that time its colour gradually changes from a very 

 light, whitish hue to a dark horny brown colour. 

 The ova composing it are held together by a glu- 

 tinous substance, and are very small and therefore 

 generally exceedingly numerous. They are each 

 enveloped in a very firm capsule of most peculiar 

 appeai'ance, and almost turbinate shape (see PI. XVI, 



