THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



11 



These latter are the upper ends of 

 two glands something less than 

 200,a in diameter, and which are 

 held in position by receiving very 

 numerous twigs from the investing 

 tracheal plexus. These glands 

 passing down the opposite sides of 

 the spermatheca, meet together 

 and form a junction near the sper- 

 mathecal duct. They consist of 

 nucleated gland cells surrounding 

 a tube which runs from end to end 

 and enlarges somewhat during its 

 course^ This tube gives off thous- 

 ands of tubelets which pass to the 

 distinct cells, upon the walls of 

 which they seem to expand ; but 

 after considerable painstaking I feel 

 myself uncertain upon this point. 

 The spermathecal duct which is 

 short, stiff, and slightl}' rugose, 

 points towards but does not imme- 

 diatel}' join the duct of the appen- 

 dicular^i gland. Attached to these 

 ducts and valve are five main mus- 

 cles, two of which are sphincters, 

 and which are the main instruments 

 for respectively and independently 

 closing the spermathecal and ap- 

 pendicular gland ducts. These 

 sphincters, which are separated by 

 an intervening wedge-shaped disk, 

 lie towards each other at an angle of 

 from 30° to about 60°, and may be 

 beautifully shown by polarized 

 light. The prisms being crossed 

 the object is so staged that one 

 sphincter most completely' resolves 

 the polarized beam, by which every 

 fibre in it can beperfectly dissocia- 



JiThis name appears to me not well cliosen, 

 but since it has been given it had better be 

 retained, although "mucous glaiid of the fe- 

 male" would have been more expressive. 



ted from its companion, which is 

 placed at such angle that it gives 

 no perceptible twist to the plane of 

 polarization, and so remains out of 

 view. The rotation of the stage 

 plate now darkens the first observed 

 sphincter, while the second be- 

 comes brightly illuminated. An 

 indurated integument, probably a 

 chitinous plate, is pushed towards 

 the spermathecal duct by the con- 

 traction of its proper sphincter, and 

 in this work it is aided by a muscle 

 which is one of two, the tendinous 

 extension of which is only about 

 25 in diameter, or ^^ of the thick- 

 ness of a human hair.^^ These 

 muscles would, no doubt, all re- 

 main tense the insect being in a 

 condition of repose ; but should 

 she be engaged in ovipositing 

 and spermatozoa be required 

 for fertilization, the muscle by 

 contraction^^ would lift the plate 

 to which by a complex tendon it is 

 attached. Into the cavity thus 

 opened spermatozoa would pass. 

 The two sphincters at the same 

 moment relaxing, an outflow of 

 glandular secretion] would be ready 

 to sweep the spermatozoa towards 

 their destination in the common ovi- 

 duct, and all would be at once 

 driven on by the appendicular 

 sphincter first contracting, fol- 

 lowed in order by the second 



>2I fully feel the difficulty of interpreting a 

 mechanism such as this, but very many dis- 

 sections made with great care and most soru- 

 pulously examined, will, I hope, be thought 

 to justify the explanation given, which cer- 

 tainly seems to me to satisfy fully both tlie 

 natural liistory and microscopy of the case. 

 " I am fully satisfied that tliose muscular 

 changes would be all produced by reflex 

 action. 



