168 ARISTOTLE'S ANHOMCEOMERIA 



far back. Those of the hedgehog undergo, as is well known 

 a great change both in position and size, according to the 

 time of year. Aristotle's statements about the testes of the 

 lizard, tortoise, and crocodile are substantially correct. 



His statements about the os penis of the marten and 

 other animals have been discussed in Chapter x. 



Much has been written about the hectocotylus of the 

 argonaut, octopus, and other cephalopods, which is an arm 

 specially modified for the purpose of conveying the sperma- 

 tozoa to the female. Aristotle was the first to describe this 

 organ and to suggest its proper function. He says, speaking 

 particularly of an octopus : " Some say that the male has 

 some kind of external generative organ in one of its arms, 

 on which are two very large suckers, that such organ is 

 sinewy, as it were, as far as the middle of the arm, and that 

 the whole of it is sent into the funnel of the female."* 

 The male, he says, differs from the female in having a 

 longer head and the part of the arm, called the generative 

 organ by fishermen, is white.! The last of its arms, he 

 says, is the most pointed of all, is the only one which is 

 whitish, and is used in copulation. I Finally, he says that 

 the male must approach the funnel of the female, whether 

 he emits semen, a part [of his body] , or any other agent, 

 and that the insertion of that arm of the octopus, which 

 fishermen say is used in copulation, through the funnel is 

 for the sake of an intertwining and not for the purpose of 

 an organ of generation, for it is outside the funnel and body 

 of the female. § 



It is clear, therefore, that he believed, on the authority 

 of fishermen, that the strangely modified arm was an organ 

 of generation. There does not seem to be sufficient evidence 

 to show that he knew of the free or so-called autotomous 

 hectocotylus of the argonaut and some other cephalopods. 

 The cephalopod to which his descriptions w^ere intended to 

 refer is generally admitted to be Octopus vulgaris of the 

 Mediterranean. A description of the hectocotylised arm of 

 this cephalopod is given in Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2), xx. pp. 

 98-9, where it is said that the arm is short and pointed at 

 its end, and that it has a very white fold of skin on its 

 dorsal side and sometimes one or two exceptionally large 

 suckers. If this description is compared with Aristotle's, 



■•• H. A. V. c. 5, s. 1. I Ibid. v. c. 10, s. 1. 



+ Ibid. iv. c. 1, s. 6. § G. A. i. c. 15, 720&. 



