REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [ 142 ] 
to three inches long and filled with numerous eggs, the number varying 
from 20, or less, up to about 200. The transparent eggs are arranged, 
in the well-formed capsules, in six or more rows, and are so closely 
crowded that they touch each other and often take polygonal forms, 
especially when preserved. 
How many of these capsules are deposited by one female is very un¬ 
certain. Probably several females are concerned in the formation of 
the larger clusters. The eggs are mostly laid in June and July, but 
many are laid in August, and some even in September. By the 11th of 
June, in the vicinity of New Haven, many of these eggs contain em¬ 
bryos in advanced stages of development (Plate XXX, figs. 1,2). The 
embryos, before hatching, can swim around inside the eggs. 
These embryos are very beautiful objects to observe under the micro¬ 
scope. 
Even at this early period some of the chromatophores are already 
developed in the mantle and arms, and during life, if examined under 
the microscope, these orange and purple vesicles can be seen to contract 
and expand rapidly and change colors, as in the adult, but the phenomena 
can be far more clearly seen in these embryos owing to the greater trans¬ 
parency of the skin. In the young the chromatophores are very regu¬ 
larly and symmetrically arranged on the arms, head, and mantle. At 
this stage of development the eyes are brown. In these embryos a 
remnant of the yolk-sac ( y) appears to protrude from the mouth, but it 
is really connected with the space around the mouth and pharynx, and 
into this it is eventually absorbed. 
The more advanced of the embryos were capable of swimming about, 
when removed from the eggs, by means of the jets of water from the 
siphon (s), which is developed at an earlier stage. The arms ( a'-a "") 
are then short, blunt, very unequal, with few minute suckers; the dorsal 
arms are very small, while those of the 2d and 3d pairs are successively 
longer, and have distinct suckers; the tentacular arms (a'") are longer 
and larger than any of the others, and have larger suckers, which 
already, in some examples, can be seen to form four rows, but in this 
stage the peduncular part of these arms is short; the ventral arms ( a"") 
are about as long as the 2d pair, and bear several suckers. The mantle 
(m) is short, and the caudal fins (/) are very small, short, lateral, and 
separately attached to each side of the blunt posterior end of the body, 
thus recalling their adult condition in Rossia. The eyes (e) are large 
and prominent; the rudimentary beak (d) and odontopkore ( l ) are dis¬ 
tinctly visible. The two otoliths (o) are very distinctly visible, as 
highly refracting ovate bodies, above the basal part of the siphon, one 
on each side. The ink-sac ( i ), attached to the rectum (t), is conspicuous 
on account of its dark color; the gills (g) are provided with a small 
number of transverse processes; the heart (h) and the branchial auricles 
{h' W) are easily seen while they continue to pulsate. The pen exists 
only in a rudimentary condition, as a thin cartilage. 
During July and August the young (figs. 3-5), from less than a quarter 
