130 MOLLUSCA, 
great bag, into which it empties its contents. These pass 
out of the body at the funnel-form opening in the throat. 
The female organs of generation consist of an ovarium 
and oviduct. The ovarium is a glandular sac, to which the 
ova are attached by footstalks. The opening by which they 
issue from the ovarium is wide, and the oviduct (in the Oc- 
topus vulgaris and Loligo sagittata,) after continuing a 
short way simple, divides into two branches, each having 
its external aperture near the anus. The oviducts are fur- 
nished within with muscular bands and a mucous lining, and 
encircled with a large glandular zone, destined, probably, 
to secrete the integuments of the eggs. In the Lokiga vul- 
garis, and the Sepia, the oviduct continues single. Be- 
sides these organs, the Loliga vulgaris and sagittata, and 
the Sepia, have two large oval glandular bodies, divided by 
transverse partitions, with their excretory ducts terminating 
at the anus, the use of which is unknown. The eggs, of 
the peculiar form already noticed, pass out of the funnel, 
after which they are supposed to be impregnated by the 
male, according to the manner of fishes. 
The inky flucd now remains to be considered, as the most 
remarkable of the productions of this tribe of animals. The 
organ in which this fluid is secreted is spongy and glandu- 
lar. In some species it is contained in arecess of the liver, 
which has given rise to the opinion, that the coloured fluid 
which it secreted was bile. In other species, however, this 
gland is detached from the liver, and either situate in front 
or beneath that organ. The excretory canal of this gland 
opens in the rectum, so that the fluid escapes through the ~ 
funnel. It mixes readily with water, and imparts to it its 
own peculiar colour, When dried, it is used as a pigment, 
and is considered as the basis of China ink. It is regarded 
