352 



HANDBOOK OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 



5. A small, compact, accessory gland, the prostate (Fig. 



182, e,) opens into the vas efferens close to its proximal 



end, and near this is a blind pouch (d) . 



d. The spermatophores. The spermatophore of Loligo 



Pealii (Fig. 184) is a white, slender rod or thread, about 

 half an inch long. When magnified 

 it is seen to consist of three parts : 

 an outer tubular sheath (a) ; a packet 

 of spermatozoa {b), which fills nearly 

 two-thirds of the sheath ; and a long, 

 complicated, discharging body (c), 

 which is coiled up so as to form a 

 long, elastic spiral spring. 



Fig. 184. — Spermatophore of Loligo 

 Pealii, magnified about thirty diameters. 

 (Drawn by W. K. Brooks from a sketch 

 from nature by H. J. Eice.) 



a. Sheath or capsule, h. Packet of sper- 

 matozoa, c. Discharging body. d. A single 

 Fio. 184. spermatozoon more magnified. 



When a fresh spermatophore is placed in water, the 

 sheath becomes ruptured at the end {d), and the dis- 

 charging body springs out, dragging the packet of sper- 

 matozoa after it. 



VII. The Reproductive Organs of the Female. 



These are the ovary ^ the oviduct, the gland of the ovi- 

 duct, the nidamental glands, and the accessory nidamental 

 glands. 



a. The nidamental glands. When the mantle of a female 

 specimen is laid open, the region of the heart and renal 

 organs will be found to be covered by a pair of large, 

 white, rounded, laminated bodies, the nidamental glandi , 



