On a Hermaphrodite Specimen of Amphioxus. 613 
LXXIII.—On a Hermaphrodite Specimen of Amphioxus. 
By W. Rippe tt, M.A. 
HERMAPHRODITISM in Amphiowus appears to have been noted 
previously on three occasions only. Langerhans*, in 1876, 
recorded the presence of both ova and spermatozoa in all the 
gonads of a young individual; nothing quite comparable has 
been observed since. In 1912 Goodrich t gave a description 
of a specimen from Naples, in which one pouch on the left 
side contained ova, the remainder being filled with sperm. 
In 1914 Orton } described a similar specimen from Plymouth, 
again with one pouch on the left side containing ova. 
Goodrich does not seem to have made any _ histological 
examination of the gonads. Orton says that he examined a 
series of sections through the whole region. As he records 
10 e@ppearance of ovain any but the one pouch, it is to be 
presumed that the other gonads were normal. 
The condition shown in the present example is much 
more complicated, but the material is unfortunately very 
scanty. Among a number of slides procured a short time 
ago from Messrs. Flatters and Garnett of Manchester for the 
Zoological Department of Queen’s University, Belfast, was 
one which contained a series of sections of Amphiovus. 
Iixamination of this slide showed that one section exhibited 
both ovary and testis. J at once wrote to the makers for 
any information they could give concerning the specimen 
from which these section were made. Unhappily there was 
little to be learned. They stated that the specimen was 
probably one obtained from Naples ten or fifteen years ago ; 
as the slides made from it differed somewhat from their usual 
type-series, they have only recently been sent out. No 
further information is available. I was able, however, to 
obtain from them sixteen other slides from this specimen. 
‘Thus this account is based on the examination of thirty-four 
sections from different regions, all showing hermaphroditism 
more or less marked. It is.extremely unfortunate that more 
material is not available. ‘The condition is more complicated 
than in those specimens described by Goodrich and Orton; 
but, though the sections are from different areas, it is im- 
possible to say exactly what portions of the genital tract are 
covered by them. As shown by the size of the liver, they 
fall into two groups, one more anterior than the other; the 
* Archiv f. mikr, Anat. xii. 1876, p. 334. 
+ Anatom. Anz. xlii. (1912). 
¢ Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc. x. 3 (1914). 
