364 ^- -5". NICKERSON. [Vol. XVII. 



entering the tentacles have already been mentioned (p. 354). 

 Dorsal sense organs, as described for many other species, are 

 absent in this one, 



A connection between the brain and the outer ectoderm of 

 the body is represented in PL XXXIII, Figs. 30 and 31. Each 

 cell of the pair of large bipolar cells is apparently in connection 

 with the brain at one end, and at the other is continued into 

 a long process which extends outward to the body-wall on the 

 ventral side near the oesophagus. This condition was observed 

 in a young animal not yet separated from the parent. From 

 their close relation to the brain, I regard these cells as nervous 

 in function, although their later history is not known. 



Reproductive System. — The rare condition of proterogynic 

 hermaphroditism is illustrated in the reproductive system of 

 L. Davenporti. In the single pair of gonads both male and 

 female genital products are developed, the ova preceding the 

 sperm. By far the greater number of individuals examined 

 possessed ova in various stages of development, but no trace of 

 male sexual cells. In other individuals, developing spermatozoa 

 were found and no trace of ova. But that both male and 

 female elements are developed in the same gland is demon- 

 strated in PI. XXXII, Fig. 6. As shown here, the sexual gland 

 of one side of the body is an ovary ; that of the other side con- 

 tains, besides an evidently degenerating ovum, a mass of male 

 sexual cells in different stages of development up to the fully 

 grown spermatozoa with tails. The evidence of degeneration on 

 the part of the ovum is found in the shriveled condition of the 

 germinative vesicle and the absence of chromatic material. 

 While in most cases both sides of the body showed well- 

 developed ovaries in an apparently functional condition, in 

 others the ova of both glands were evidently suffering degen- 

 eration, and certain of the follicle cells undergoing division 

 exhibited what seemed to be early stages in the development of 

 the spermatozoa. Why it is that the female condition is so much 

 more frequently found I have not determined. The relative 

 scarcity of individuals in the state of male functional activity 

 is in agreement with the observations of other students upon 

 the genus Loxosoma, although no observations have been 



