LAWSON, ON HELIX ASPERSA AND HOKTENSIS. 265 



his own neighbourhood. Secondly^ to put forward my own 

 opinion concerning the relations of function of the parts 

 which compose this system. 



The generative organs of this animal are hermaphrodite in 

 their nature, and excessively complicated in their arrange- 

 ment. They occupy a larger volume of the body compara- 

 tively with the other systems than at first one would be 

 inclined to suppose, extending from one extremity to the 

 other, and seeming more or less closely related to every organ 

 in the economy of the creature. They present an external 

 aperture adjacent to the right upper tentacle, and terminate 

 at the ovary, in the final spire of the shell. For convenience, 

 they may be divided into four groups ; 



1. Female. 



2. Male. 



3. Androgynous. 



4. Appendicular. 



Of these, the female organs form by far the largest portion, 

 and extend over the greatest surface. They consist of an 

 ovary, oviduct, albumen-gland and uterus. The ovary is a 

 small, rather compact, fan-shaped gland, spread over the last 

 lobe of the liver, and, with it, included in the terminal 

 volution of the shell ; its broad or basal extremity is most 

 external, the narrow portion being directed inwards, to ter- 

 minate in the commencement of the oviduct. When sepa- 

 rated from its attachments, it measures at its widest part 

 about three eighths of an inch ; whilst from within outwards, 

 it is about "h quarter of an inch. It is composed of numerous 

 branching cseca, or lobules, of a light-yellowish colour, bound 

 together by folds of a delicate areolar or fibrous membrane. 

 A portion placed under the microscope presents the appear- 

 ance of a follicle, secreting from its inner wall numerous 

 oval or spherical, nucleated cells, and having occasionally 

 within it, and rather near its mouth, a few isolated zoosperms 

 — no trace whatever of a second sac invaginated by the 

 former can be observed. The ducts of the various lobules 

 unite towards the* apex of the organ, and form a common 

 channel — the oviduct. This vessel bends its course in a 

 spiral direction from the ovary to the albumen-gland. It is 

 simple at both extremities, but very much convoluted in the 

 interval. It is about seven eighths of an inch in length ; 

 and before it terminates in the sinus of the albumen-gland 

 it makes a slight spur-like tiirn backwards. (I have not seen 

 any of those decided projections on its convoluted portion 

 which Professor Goodsir has described as existing mLymnens 



