92 



trawl — possibly they are fastened by the mother amongst 

 rocks in inaccessible places. 



The ova of E. cirrosa are grouped in characteristic 

 strings during the spawning (PI. I, fig. 2). One female 

 deposits about 30 of these racemes, each consisting 

 of 25 to 30 eggs, so that the total number spawned 

 is about 800. The whole process of spawning lasts over 

 several days, the racemes being produced at intervals 

 during this time. According to Joubin, E. aldrovandi 

 will devour its own spawn if disturbed during the laying 

 process. 



The spawn will now be described, so that the order of 

 events in spawning may be understood. The egg itself 

 is enclosed in a semi-transparent horny egg case (fig. 2, 

 h. c), which is secreted by the follicular epithelium before 

 the expulsion of the ovum. Anteriorly this egg case is 

 drawn out into a string for attachment {egg. St.). These 

 strings seem first to be twisted together in groups 

 of four to six, and then the latter become intertwisted, 

 thus forming a main central horny axis, which is coated 

 externally by a thin dark layer of horn, and ends in a 

 flat disc which adheres to the glass front of the tank 

 (fig. 2, A. 1).). The strings of ova are generally attached 

 on or near the glass front of the tank, about a foot from 

 the surface. The actual deposition of the eggs has been 

 observed at the Port Erin Biological Station by Mr. 

 Gravely, of Manchester University, who has kindly 

 furnished me with notes on the process for this Memoir. 



For about two hours before the eggs were spawned, 

 the Eledone was seen clinging to the glass front of the 

 tank, with the small suckers on the proximal part of the 

 arm extended. Several very violent waves of contraction 

 passed over the body from behind forwards, and several 

 jets of water were directed by the funnel over the 



