6 Gravely, N'otes on the Spazvning of Elcdonc. 



spawning at all. Finall}' one arm becomes less active 

 than the others and its distal slender portion is wrapped 

 round the bunch of eggs, the firmness of which it appears 

 to test as the unusual activity of the other arms disappears 

 and the creature moves away. The process from the 

 the time at which the mother finally settles upon the 

 selected spot, to the time at which she leaves the finished 

 bunch of eggs occupies from about fifteen to twenty 

 minutes. Occasionally the concluding twirling of the 

 arms and testing of the security of the bunch of eggs 

 are omitted. 



When the eggs are left by the mother the whole of the 

 bunch is colourless ; during the first day, however, the 

 attachment-disc and central stem become green, no doubt 

 through the growth of some microscopic alga upon them. 



The specimen whose spawning habits I watched 

 always attached its eggs near to the front of the tank — 

 usually on the glass itself — at a depth not exceeding two 

 feet, and usually well under that. Another specimen in 

 the next tank produced two or three bunches of eggs, and 

 attached them all to the back wall of the tank (furthest 

 from the light), at a depth of about three feet. 



All the specimens o{ Elcdonc "CazX. had been associated 

 with the female under observation have since been pre- 

 served by Mr. Chadwick, and sent by him to Manchester, 

 where their sex has been determined by Miss Isgrove. 

 They have all proved to be female, so it is certain that 

 the eggs, if fertilized at all, were fertilized by sperm 

 supplied to the female before her capture. 



Arrangement of the Suckers. 

 The last specimen sent here by Mr. Chadwick 1 took 

 to Dr. Iloyle for examination of the arms previous to 

 the dissection of the genital ducts. He at once pointed 



