SEXUAL ACTIVITIES OF THE SQUID 337 
glands, which lie just in front of the anterior ends of the nidamental 
glands and open by wide openings near the narrow openings 
of these glands, are very active during this period and secrete 
a viscid material. What the special function of this secretion is 
has not been determined. It would seem from position and activ- 
ity that the secretions from both sets of glands must be mixed as 
they are poured out. 
Until recently eggs have not commonly been deposited in aqua- 
ria at Woods Hole. This maybe due to the way the animals have 
been handled. Squid will not stand rough handling, either in 
capture or transportation, and live well in aquaria afterward. 
When captured in fish traps, quickly and carefully transferred to 
live cars where they are supplied with an abundance of water, and 
transported to the aquaria with as little excitement and as good 
water as possible, they may be kept several days in pretty good 
condition, but they wear themselves out by constantly bumping 
against the walls of the aquaria and are not vigorous many days. 
During each of the months I have worked at Woods Hole, June 
to late September, specimens have been obtained that have de- 
posited eggs in aquaria. During the first three months speci- 
mens ready to deposit eggs are rather easy to get. In September 
only a small proportion of those captured still contained eggs. 
Eggs are somewhat more frequently deposited in aquaria at 
night than during the day, but this may be due to the frequent 
if not nearly continuous disturbance to which they are subjected 
during the day in a laboratory where many people are working. 
The usual number of strings deposited by a female in what would 
seem to be a continuous laying period ranged from one to six. 
These strings were commonly delivered from fifteen to forty min- 
utes apart, the time between any two strings being quite variable 
in an individual. One specimen, however, deposited twenty- 
three strings in an hour and thirty-five minutes. These were laid 
during a comparatively dark day when the laboratory was quiet. 
Possibly the small number deposited by other females was due 
to disturbance. 
The end of the egg string begins to protrude from the end of 
the funnel while the female rests upon the bottom in the attitude 
