1 30 MOLLUSCA. 



great bag, into which it empties its contents. These pass 

 out of the body at the funnel-form opening in the throat. 



The female organs of generation consist of an ovarium 

 and oviduct. The ovarium is a glandular sac, to which the 

 ova are attached by footstalks. The opening by which they 

 issue from the ovarium is wide, and the oviduct (in the Oc- 

 topus vulgaris and Loligo sagittata,) after continuing a 

 short way simple, divides into two branches, each having 

 its external aperture near the anus. The oviducts are fur- 

 nished within with muscular bands and a mucous lining, and 

 encircled with a large glandular zone, destined, probably, 

 to secrete the integuments of the eggs. In the Loliga vul- 

 garis, and the Sepia, the oviduct continues single. Be- 

 sides these organs, the Loliga vulgaris and sagittata, and 

 the Sepia, have two large ov#l glandular bodies, divided by 

 transverse partitions, with their excretory ducts terminating 

 at the anus, the use of which is unknown. The eggs, of 

 the peculiar form already noticed, pass out of the funnel, 

 after which they are supposed to be impregnated by the 

 male, according to the manner of fishes. 

 - The inky fluid now remains to be considered, as the most 

 remarkable of the productions of this tribe of animals. The 

 organ in which this 0uid is secreted is spongy and glandu- 

 lar. In some species it is contained in a recess of the liver, 

 which has given rise to the opinion, that the coloured fluid 

 which it secreted was bile. In other species, however, this 

 gland is. detached from the liver, and either situate in front 

 or beneath that organ. The excretory canal of this gland 

 opens in the rectum, so that the fluid escapes through the 

 funnel. It mixes readily with water, and imparts to it its 

 own peculiar colour. When dried, it is used as a pigment, 

 and is considered as the basis of China ink. It is regarded 



