18ir.] ANATOMICAL DESCRIPTIONS. 181 



bled to see in the interior of this cavity any small mucous 

 orifices, for the purpose of furnishing the pellucid sub- 

 stance of the air. bladder; or whether it had any commu- 

 nication with the other cavities, from which the superior 

 one is se;parated by a thiqk skin. The second cavity is 

 divided by twenty or twenty- two pairs of membranes, 

 situated at each junction of the exterior division, which 

 mem.branes pass from one extremity to the other, and sup- 

 port in ther^iddle of this cavity a cylindric, plaited organ 

 open at its extremities, appearing to be destined to supply 

 the functions of the stomach, and forming compartments 

 between it and the internal side. Each membrane is fur- 

 nished with a thick, opaque, arcuated organ, curved at 

 its sides, one extremity prolonged in the manner of ravs, 

 on the bottom of the cavity of the disc, and the other 

 attached to the base of the stomach. Some of these organs 

 bear the ovaries, which are opposed to each other like two 

 c's placed thus c o . These ovaries are ample, very much 

 plaited, and divided into deep lobes, which are themselves 

 also lobed at their extremities, on which lobes one distin- 

 guishes granulations, similar to eggs. We may regard 

 as a third cavity, that, comprehended l^etween tlie central 

 aperture, which is named the mouth, and the exterior 

 border; this cavity serves to secure the tentacula, which 

 are drawn in w^hen the animal contracts itself. The mouth, 

 in several species, remains contracted, when the ovaries 

 are slightly expanded; but in this species the ovaries are 

 very much expanded, and expelled without the body, by 

 its contractions, after having passed the two openings of 

 the stomach, and give a false appearance of tentacula. 

 At the opening of the mouth one remarks several fleshy 

 appendices, some united, and others simple and separated. 



