42 Papers from the Marine Biological Laboratory. 
Racovitza speaks of finding the “spermatophores” in the oviducts, 
but later he modifies this by stating that the examination of the 
spermatophores showed their sheaths had disappeared and that only 
the part evaginated persisted. He states further that they had been 
placed by the orifices of the oviducts and in exploding introduced the 
spermatic reservoirs into the canal. 
The statement concerning the condition of the sperm in the oviducts 
corresponds with my observations made on a specimen at Montego 
Bay, in which the oviducts were filled except that there were no 
reservoirs. The sperm were free. There were no parts of the tunics 
or ejaculatory apparatus found. I do not know upon what evidence 
Racovitza concludes that the spermatophores were placed by the 
orifices of the oviducts and in exploding introduced the spermatic 
reservoirs into the canal. Very possibly it was surmise based on 
known conditions in other forms. There is no known provision for 
sticking the spermatophores to the body of the female and there is 
no spermatic reservoir formed in ejaculation in Octopus. It seems 
probable either that the ejaculating spermatophore is held by the 
tip of the hectocotylized arm in position for it to introduce the sperm 
mass into an oviduct as it ejaculates, or that the spermatophore never 
enters the groove in the hectocotylized arm, but ejaculates into it, 
and the sperm mass only passes on to the tip and thus into the oviduct. 
In either case the spermatophores evidently have to reverse ends in 
passing from the penis to the groove in the hectocotylized arm, for 
the oral ejaculating end must be directed toward the oviduct while 
it is functioning. What mechanism is used in transferring the sper- 
matophore from the penis to the groove is not known, but it is probable 
that during the process the thread is pulled and ejaculation begins. 
Ejaculation is very deliberate, occupying from 13 to 3 minutes, and 
the sperm thread is all unwound, so that it leaves the spermatophore 
as along narrow thread. Neither of these arrangements seems to be 
adapted to packing the oviducts directly from the ejaculating sper- 
matophores, but they are nicely adjusted to delivering the sperm 
thread to the groove in the hectocotylized arm. I therefore doubt 
somewhat whether the spermatophore ever enters the groove. It 
seems more probable that it is retained between the arms near the 
entrance to the groove and that the sperm mass only, in the form of 
the uncoiled thread, passes down the groove to the tip of the hecto- 
cotylized arm. The tip of this arm seems to be modified for intro- 
duction into the oviducts and by it the sperm would be conducted 
into position. 
The cap thread, as stated in describing the structure of the sper- 
matophore, forms a broad bandage, one end of which is quite firmly 
stuck to one side of the spermatophore, while the other end is free 
but passes over the end of the cap. The free end of the thread is 
