556 



CEPHALOPODA. 



In the Sepiola the part corresponding to 

 that called the prostate by Cuvier exists, but 

 is relatively smaller, and the duct by which it 

 communicates with and is appended to the 

 vas deferens is relatively longer ; the sac of the 

 filaments is relatively larger, exceeding doubly 

 the dimensions of the testis; the penis is much 

 shorter. 



In the Onychoteuthis the penis is merely 

 grooved, as in the Pectinibranchiate Mollusks, 

 not perforated, and such may be expected to 

 be its structure in the Pearly Nautilus. 



With respect to the act of impregnation in 

 the Cephalopods, Aristotle gives two accounts. 

 In the fifth book of the Historia Animalium 

 it is stated that the Octopus, Sepia, and Cala- 

 mary, all copulate in the same manner; the 

 male and female having their heads turned to- 

 wards one another, and their cephalic arms 

 being so co-adapted as to adhere by the mutual 

 apposition of the suckers. In this act the 

 Poulps are described as seeking the bottom,while 

 the Cuttles and Calamaries are stated to swim 

 freely in the water, the individual of one sex 

 moving forwards, the other backwards. Aris- 

 totle also observes that the ova are expelled by 

 the funnel, which the Greeks called physetera 

 (q>vo-v)TY)ci), and some, he adds, assert that the 

 coitus takes place through that part. 



From the position of the oviduct at the base 

 of the funnel, and the inclination of the penis 

 to the same part, from the left side, the latter 

 supposition derives some probability, espe- 

 cially with respect to the Sepia and Sepioteu- 

 this, in which the penis is of large size, although 

 true intromission is physically impossible in 

 these, as in all other Cephalopods. There 

 may, however, be an imperfect connexion, 

 analogous to that of the Frog, Toad, &c. and 

 it is worthy of remark that the differences in the 

 situation where the coitus is said to take place, 

 in Aristotle's remarkable account, corresponds 

 with the modifications of the locomotive powers 

 in the three genera treated of; it is only, for 

 example, in the Sepia and Loligo that the indi- 

 viduals are provided with posterior fins for 

 swimming forwards. 



In the twelfth chapter of the sixth book of 

 the Historia Animalium, where the generation 

 of Fishes is treated of, the Stagyrite ob- 

 serves f When they (fishes) bring forth, 

 the male following the female sprinkles the 

 ova with his semen : the same thing happens 

 in the Malakia ; for in the genus Sep ice., where the 

 female deposits the ova, the male follows and 

 impregnates them : this possibly happens in like 

 manner to other Malakia, but, hitherto, it has 

 been observed in the Sepiae alone.' It reflects, 

 perhaps, little credit on modern Naturalists, 

 that the knowledge of this part of the eco- 

 nomy of the Cephalopods should remain in the 

 same unsatisfactory and conjectural state as it 

 was two thousand years ago. 



The female organs exhibit four principal 

 types of structure in the Cephalopods. 



The ovary is single in all. 



In the Nautilus there is one oviduct, and 

 one superadded glandular appendage. 



In the Sepia and many others, there is also 



Fig. 238. 



Female Organs of the Nautilut. 



one oviduct, but there are two separated ni- 

 damental glandular laminated organs which 

 open near its extremity. 



In the Loligo sagittata there are two distinct 

 oviducts, and two separate nidamental glands. 



In the Octopoda there are two distinct ovi- 

 ducts, each of which, as in the Ray and Shark, 

 passes through a glandular organ in its course 

 towards the base of the funnel, but there are 

 no detached glands. 



In the Nautilus the ovary (a, Jig. 238) is 

 situated, as in the higher Cephalopods, at the 

 posterior part of the visceral sac, in a distinct 

 compartment of the peritoneum ; and the 

 gizzard, which here descends lower down than 

 in the Dibranchiata, is lodged by its side. 

 The ovary is of an oblong compressed form, 

 and in the specimen 'dissected, measured one 

 inch and a half in length and one inch in 

 breadth. It consists of^ a simple undivided 

 hollow sac, with thick and apparently glan- 

 dular parietes, rugose on the inner surface, 

 and having an anterior aperture (6) with puck- 

 ered margins, directed forwards. 



The ovisacs (c, c) are numerous, of an oval 

 form, and attached by one extremity, in a 

 linear series, along the internal surface of the 

 ovarian sac on the dorsal aspect. In the 

 specimen here described they were collapsed, 

 and had evidently recently discharged their 

 ova; the rent orifices by which these had 

 escaped were still patent and conspicuous. The 

 tunics of the ovisacs, as in the Dibranchiata, 

 were glandular, but the internal plicae did not 

 present the reticulate disposition characteristic 

 of the corresponding parts in the Sepia, &c. 

 The exterior thin membrane (d} of the ovary 

 is continued forwards to form the oviduct: 

 the thick glandular tunics of this canal com- 

 mence by a distinct aperture (e), just above 

 the outlet of the ovary, and continue increasing 

 in thickness to the extremity of the oviduct, 

 where the glandular membrane is disposed 

 in numerous deep and close-set folds : the 



