296 LIEXJT.-COL. H. H. GODWIN-AtfSTEN ON [Apr. 20, 



against the thin memhrane beneath (i' b) ; and following this down, it 

 was found to be the basiil end of the spermatophore, with the pecu- 

 liar cervicorn processes at the base, in situ where developed. On 

 opening the membranous sac, it was found to consist of one con- 

 tinuous thread coiled down on itself (fig. .3), and pressed closely 

 together, and was in such good preservation as to be easily unravelled. 

 I drew out and measured a portion -^ inch in length, and found it 

 to contain 15-1 inches; the whole length of this part being -55 

 inch in length, would give nearly 7 feet for the total contents of 

 the sac. It is, in fact, a spermatic thread of hardened spermatozoa, 

 poured out from the vas deferens ^ 



On further examining the part near c, this cylindrical portion 

 was found to end in a conical cap, which again gave off a thin rod, 

 which bending sharply bacli, is evidently in communication with 

 the extension of the vas deferens towards d. Behind the junction 

 of this last is a short gland rounded at the end(e), which contained 

 some very microscofiic transparent crystalline bodies of oval form 

 (fig. 2, a). This is the Ktilksack mentioned above, and secretes the 

 material for the formation of the spermatophore. 



This spermatophore, which is an organ of a very complicated and 

 curious iorm, may be thus described :— The basal or anterior end 

 consists of a chitinous strap about 0'4 inch long, with the sides more 

 or less turned over, forming a sort of trough or long spout, which, 

 after it has passed into the spermatheca of the other individual, will 

 be found opening into the lower part of the oviduct. At the other 

 end the sides at last meet and form a tube ; it then thickens and 

 widens, giving off several strong cervicorn or more or less branched 

 processes, which are directed backwards ; they serve, I think, to aid 

 in the expulsion of the sperniatopliore from the penis, and, when 

 once within the spermatheca or vagina, serve as holding-hooks to 

 prevent its withdrawal. The part above this consists of a very long 

 thin membranous bag 0'4 inch long, terminating in a hard conical 

 cap, from which proceeds a thin rod, which is found to extend to the 

 hard rounded apex of the spermatic sac, where it bends over or ends 

 in a few separate filaments within the tube of the vas deferens. In 

 one specimen of this species {c/iyas) no less than seven perfect 

 spcrmatophores were counted, closely packed together side by side 

 within the spermatheca. (Van Beneden observed two in a Parma- 

 cella, Ann. Sci. Nat. 1857, p. 371.) 



It would appear that in these creatures even one act of copulation 

 would fertilize for a very considerable period ; for it would be some 

 time before the contents of a spermatophore became exhausted. 



This organ, as situated in the penis, presents the character of a 

 perfect spring {vide Plate XXYI. figs. 2, 3) ; and it can be imagined 

 that when it enters the wider and very elastic sac of the spermatheca, 

 and is then gradually released, it will tend to become quite straight, 

 and that, the recurved processes holding it at one point, the longer 

 portion will bend round to the long axis of the sac, bringing the end 



^ This thread is similarly described by M. Baudelot, I. c. p. 165, in bis de- 

 Bcriptiou of the capreolus of Arion rufus. 



