﻿278 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  cause, 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  striking 
  sight, 
  and 
  with 
  a 
  little 
  care 
  the 
  particles 
  may 
  be 
  followed 
  

   up 
  to 
  and 
  into 
  the 
  mouth. 
  

  

  In 
  order 
  to 
  trace 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  digestive 
  organs, 
  the 
  visceral 
  mass 
  may 
  be 
  split 
  

   with 
  a 
  sharp 
  knife 
  or 
  razor. 
  If 
  the 
  split 
  is 
  pretty 
  near 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  body 
  each 
  

   half 
  will 
  show 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  short, 
  folded 
  (i-sophagus, 
  running 
  upward 
  from 
  the 
  

   mouth, 
  and 
  tlie 
  irregular 
  stomach, 
  cut 
  1, 
  s, 
  with 
  thick, 
  semi-transparent 
  walls, 
  sur- 
  

   rounded 
  by 
  the 
  compact, 
  dark-greenish 
  liver, 
  1 
  1. 
  Back 
  of 
  the 
  liver 
  and 
  stomach 
  the 
  

   convoluted 
  intestine, 
  i, 
  will 
  be 
  seen, 
  cut 
  irregularly 
  at 
  several 
  points 
  by 
  the 
  section. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  no 
  accessory 
  organs 
  of 
  reproduction, 
  and 
  the 
  position, 
  form, 
  and 
  general 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  the 
  reproductive 
  organ, 
  plate 
  i, 
  fig. 
  2, 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  in 
  both 
  sexes. 
  As 
  the 
  

   reproductive 
  organ 
  has 
  an 
  opening 
  on 
  each 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  it 
  is 
  usually 
  spoken 
  of 
  

   as 
  double, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  adult 
  oyster 
  it 
  forms 
  one 
  continuous 
  mass, 
  with 
  no 
  trace 
  of 
  a 
  

   division 
  into 
  halves, 
  and 
  extends 
  entirely 
  across 
  the 
  body 
  and 
  (against) 
  the 
  bends 
  

   and 
  folds 
  of 
  the 
  digestive 
  tract. 
  * 
  

  

  Cut 
  1. 
  

  

  The 
  stomach 
  is 
  pretty 
  definitely 
  marked 
  off" 
  from 
  the 
  other 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  digest- 
  

   ive 
  tract. 
  It 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  that 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  which 
  is 
  surrounded 
  by 
  the 
  

   liver. 
  The 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  intestine 
  immediately 
  following 
  the 
  short, 
  widened 
  region 
  

   which 
  we 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  stomach 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  spacious 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  gut, 
  and 
  in 
  it 
  

   is 
  lodged 
  a 
  very 
  singular 
  organ, 
  which 
  has 
  l)cen 
  called 
  the 
  " 
  crystalline 
  style." 
  This 
  

   is 
  an 
  opalescent 
  rod 
  of 
  a 
  glass-like 
  transparency 
  and 
  gelatinous 
  consistence, 
  which 
  

   measures 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  from 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  up 
  to 
  one 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  

   inches 
  in 
  length. 
  Its 
  anterior 
  end 
  is 
  the 
  largest, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  specimen 
  measures 
  

   nearly 
  an 
  eighth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  diameter, 
  but 
  at 
  its 
  posterior 
  end 
  is 
  scarcely 
  half 
  as 
  

   thick; 
  both 
  ends 
  are 
  bluntly 
  rounded. 
  I 
  fell 
  into 
  an 
  error 
  in 
  supposing 
  that 
  this 
  

   style 
  was 
  lodged 
  in 
  a 
  special 
  pouch 
  or 
  sac, 
  as 
  described 
  in 
  my 
  report 
  to 
  the 
  Maryland 
  

   commissioner 
  in 
  1880. 
  The 
  "crystalline 
  style" 
  really 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  jiortion 
  of 
  the 
  

   intestine 
  and 
  extends 
  from 
  the 
  pyloric 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  stomach 
  to 
  the 
  first 
  bend 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  * 
  Brooks, 
  W. 
  K. 
  Studies 
  from 
  the 
  Biological 
  Laboratory 
  of 
  Johns 
  Hopkins 
  Univer- 
  

   sity, 
  No. 
  IV, 
  1888, 
  pp. 
  5-10 
  in 
  part. 
  

  

  