﻿224 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  MALACOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  

  

  origins 
  do 
  not 
  suggest 
  anj- 
  seasonal 
  or 
  local 
  influence 
  ; 
  eight 
  of 
  

   fourteen 
  spring 
  specimens 
  and 
  three 
  of 
  six 
  collected 
  towards 
  autumn 
  

   had 
  no 
  male 
  organs. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  that 
  the 
  male 
  organs 
  were 
  rudimentary 
  

   or 
  ill-developed, 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  there 
  at 
  all, 
  and 
  the 
  lower 
  genitals 
  

   Avere 
  reduced 
  to 
  an 
  oviduct 
  and 
  spermatheca, 
  not 
  different 
  in 
  any 
  

   obvious 
  way 
  from 
  those 
  present 
  in 
  specimens 
  with 
  the 
  full 
  complement 
  

   of 
  male 
  organs.^ 
  On 
  the 
  otlier 
  hand, 
  these 
  individuals 
  were 
  not 
  

   females, 
  since 
  in 
  each 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  twenty 
  specimens, 
  whether 
  the 
  penis 
  

   was 
  present 
  or 
  not, 
  plenty 
  of 
  eggs 
  and 
  spermatozoa 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  

   lierraaphrodite 
  gland 
  and 
  duct.' 
  Such 
  an 
  arrangement 
  is 
  remarkable 
  

   and 
  is, 
  I 
  think, 
  unknown 
  among 
  the 
  larger 
  snails 
  whose 
  viscera 
  are 
  

   familiar. 
  

  

  Locality. 
  

   Rotherwas, 
  Hereford. 
  

   Aldenham, 
  Herts. 
  

   Radlett, 
  Herts. 
  

   Monks 
  Risborough, 
  Bucks. 
  

   Rotherwas, 
  Hereford. 
  

   Great 
  Hampden, 
  Bucks. 
  

   Scarborough, 
  Yorks.* 
  

  

  20 
  9 
  

  

  The 
  condition 
  in 
  these 
  eleven 
  specimens 
  was 
  in 
  short 
  similar 
  to 
  

   that 
  found 
  uniformly 
  in 
  twenty 
  lamellata,^ 
  and 
  its 
  interpretation 
  is 
  

   equally 
  difficult. 
  They 
  might 
  be 
  functionally 
  only 
  females 
  ; 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  abundant 
  spermatozoa 
  is 
  against 
  this, 
  though 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  

   known 
  that 
  in 
  comparatively 
  liighly 
  developed 
  animals 
  {e.g. 
  frogs) 
  

   the 
  sexual 
  glands 
  may 
  produce 
  a 
  certain 
  number 
  of 
  gonads 
  in- 
  

   appropriate 
  to 
  the 
  sex 
  of 
  the 
  individual. 
  They 
  might 
  be 
  self- 
  

   fertilizing 
  hermaphrodites 
  ; 
  such 
  is 
  unusual, 
  but 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  occur 
  

   under 
  stress 
  of 
  circumstances 
  in 
  a 
  certain 
  number 
  of 
  pulmonates,* 
  

   and 
  is 
  a 
  general 
  possibility. 
  They 
  might 
  be 
  functionally 
  both 
  male 
  

   and 
  female, 
  it 
  being 
  pretty 
  clear 
  that 
  the 
  vagina 
  could 
  function 
  as 
  an 
  

   intromittent 
  organ. 
  They 
  might 
  be 
  cyclically 
  unisexual, 
  though 
  

   I 
  think 
  that 
  any 
  question 
  of 
  proterandry 
  or 
  proterogyny 
  is 
  excluded 
  

   by 
  the 
  absence, 
  leather 
  than 
  the 
  presence 
  in 
  an 
  atrophied 
  condition, 
  

   of 
  the 
  male 
  organs, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  spermatozoa. 
  They 
  

   might 
  be 
  abnormal 
  abortive 
  individuals, 
  sexually 
  impotent, 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  

  

  ^ 
  The 
  specialized 
  segment 
  of 
  the 
  wall 
  of 
  the 
  glandular 
  oviduct 
  which 
  is 
  

   associated 
  with 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  vas 
  deferens 
  was 
  present, 
  though 
  not 
  

   perhaps 
  so 
  fully 
  developed 
  as 
  in 
  those 
  individuals 
  in 
  which 
  that 
  duct 
  was 
  

   found, 
  and 
  in 
  some 
  cases 
  a 
  short 
  tag 
  of 
  vas 
  deferens 
  arising 
  from 
  it 
  and 
  

   soon 
  ending 
  blindly 
  below. 
  

  

  ^ 
  The 
  spermatozoa 
  were 
  mostly 
  in 
  the 
  duct. 
  In 
  one 
  aphallic 
  specimen, 
  

   a 
  mass 
  of 
  spermatozoa 
  extended 
  from 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  spermoviduct 
  

   to 
  near 
  the 
  genital 
  orifice, 
  and 
  there 
  were 
  a 
  few 
  in 
  the 
  spermatheca, 
  but 
  it 
  

   cannot 
  of 
  course 
  be 
  known 
  where 
  they 
  came 
  from. 
  

  

  ^ 
  I 
  am 
  much 
  indebted 
  to 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  A. 
  Hargreaves 
  for 
  these 
  specimens. 
  

  

  * 
  Journ. 
  of 
  Conch., 
  vol. 
  xv, 
  1917, 
  p. 
  175. 
  

  

  * 
  Avion 
  ater, 
  Limncea 
  auricularia, 
  L. 
  pcrcger, 
  Planorbis 
  vortex. 
  

  

  