222 Chas. W. and G. T. Hargitt. 



Collections were made at all hours of the day in various localities, 

 and while the sexes were seemingly in approximately equal num- 

 bers there was no evidence of '^ seeking each other," such as Agassiz 

 asserts. Still a further fact of even greater significance remains 

 to be noted, namely, that in both Aurelia and Cyanea spawning is 

 not a single, or spasmodic process, but one continuing during 

 several days. One finds on a given specimen embryos m all 

 stages of growth, from blastulse to planulse, and eggs in all stages 

 of cleavage, and at the same time the ovaries loaded with eggs in 

 various stages of growth, from oogonia to ova in maturation. It 

 is difficult to correlate this condition with the assumption of any 

 sudden, single act of spawning. 



Egg-laying — This feature has been referred to incidentally in a 

 previous section. It only remains to call attention to a few points 

 not already mentioned. It is possible to distinguish the males 

 and females of Aurelia when sexually mature and bearing gonads: 

 the male organs being milky-white, while in the female they are 

 pale-pinkish or purplish, the eggs having these tints when viewed 

 in any considerable mass. This is less marked in Cyanea, in which 

 both sexes have whitish or cream-colored gonads. 



So far as our observations go there is no definite time of day at 

 which egg laying takes place. This is seemingly in sharp contrast 

 with what is known in many other medusae. Conklin (loc. cit. 

 p. 157), finds in the case of Linerges that this occurs ''about 8 

 a.m., and at no other period of the day." At this time he finds that 

 for a short time "a. perfect epidemic of egg-laying takes place, 

 after which no other eggs are laid till the following day." We have 

 referred to a similar condition in Pennaria, though in this case it 

 occurs in the evening, just about the twilight. The account of 

 Professor Agassiz, previously cited, would indicate something 

 similar in Aurelia. But this must be considered very doubtful. 

 We have collected Aurelia at all hours of the day, and the senior 

 author has kept females in the aquarium for days in succession, 

 but in no case has there been apparent any such exhibition as would 

 warrant the assumption that egg-laying in either of these medusae 

 takes place at any definite time. We were the more particular upon 

 this point in collecting eggs of Aurelia, since it was desirable to 



