SEXUAL ORGANS. 45 



membrane of attachment. We know but little of the eggs of 

 Octopus : Aristotle describes them as similar to those of Argo- 

 nauta, and attached within shells or similar concave surfaces I 

 figure a group of the eggs of Octopu* /m net a tit* of Gabb, from San 

 Diego, Cal. Each lengthened, oblong, transparent and colorless 

 egg is attached separately to a stalk, and twenty-five may be found 

 in a cluster : their size is represented by the figure. I have also 

 figured a pair of lengthened cylindrical bodies, similarly attached, 

 and one-celled, collected by one of the Godeffroy Expeditions at 

 the Samoan Islands. These are labeled Egg-Cases of Octopus, 

 but they are probably those of a Sepioteuthis. 



In Sepia each egg is enveloped in a large, spindle-formed black 

 capsule, many of which, forming a close mass, are attached to 

 some marine body. 



Another form of egg-masses is that in which a number of eggs 

 are contained in a single large capsule (of which many are aggre- 

 gated into a mass), attached by its pedicel to some submarine 

 object. In Loliyo vulgaris, for example, each long bag-like 

 capsule contains thirty to forty eggs. The capsule of Sepio- 

 teuthis is similar, but shorter, and contains fewer eggs. 



During the summer of 1876 I resided at Atlantic City, on the 

 New Jersey coast, and then enjoyed frequent opportunities for 

 observing the development of Loli<j<> pinn-tata De Kay ; masses 

 of egg-capsules of this species being thrown upon the beach in 

 considerable quantity throughout the season. Some of these 

 masses, when the embryos had attained considerable growth, had 

 grown to prodigious size and weight, being several times larger 

 than of the animal which deposited them. I have seen hundreds 

 of cylindrical cases, each 3 to 4 inches long and half an inch in 

 diameter, composing a single, soft, jelly-like mass, which lay 

 quivering on the beach, reflecting from its glistening surface 

 rainbow hues, and filled with almost innumerable, rapidly pul- 

 sating embryos; say at least 250 to each sack. The details of 

 their form and the colored spots of their body were distinctly 

 visible to the naked eye. Each embryo is enclosed in its sepa- 

 rate round, transparent egg-case, and during its development 

 the yolk-bag is attached to its mouth, and surrounded by its 

 arms. 



