No. 2.] THE SPERM ATOPHORES OF DIEMYCTYLUS. 269 



this spine, an approximately spherical mass of spermatozoa 

 about one and one-half millimeters in diameter, this mass being; 

 a sort of concretion of small balls of spermatozoa. The whole 

 structure is very simple as compared with the elaborate bell- 

 shaped spermatophore of Triton alpestris described and figured 

 by Zeller (loc. cit.). 



After the male has deposited his first spermatophore in the 

 manner above recorded, he moves ahead a few centimeters with 

 the female closely following him. In this forward movement of 

 the female she quite naturally brushes over the spermatophore, 

 and, if all goes well, the mass of spermatozoa adheres to the 

 cloacal lips, and thence passes, in part at least, into the cloacal 

 chamber. More frequently the spermatozoa adhere to the 

 rough skin in the neighborhood of the cloaca, and do not come 

 into close relations with the opening itself. A considerable 

 number of the spermatophores, moreover, are not touched at 

 all by the female, but are passed by on one side or the other. 

 I should think that in my aquaria about one spermatophore in 

 five fulfilled its mission, but it is possible that in the ponds the 

 number of failures is not so large. 



As to the way in which the spermatozoa actually enter the 

 cloaca of the female there has been some difference of opinion. 

 Gasco has described the female Axolotl as holding the sperma- 

 tophore firmly with her hind legs and pressing the mass of 

 spermatozoa into her cloaca, but Zeller has been unable to con- 

 firm this observation. Zeller at first thought that the European 

 triton took up the spermatozoa actively by means of the widely 

 opened lips of her cloaca, but he has very lately 1 abandoned 

 this view, and now holds that the spermatozoa, by virtue of 

 their own activity, pass up between the tightly closed cloacal 

 lips. Zeller attempts no explanation of the fact that the 

 spermatozoa choose to pass into the female cloaca rather than 

 into the surrounding water. Indeed, it is difficult to under- 

 stand just why this movement in precisely the right direction 

 should occur, unless we suppose a positively chemotactic in- 

 fluence to attract the spermatozoa into the cloaca. It is not 

 improbable that the pelvic gland of the female may be stimu- 



1 Ernst Zeller, Berichtigung betreffend die Samenaufnahme der weiblichen Tri- 

 tonen. Zeitschr.f. wiss. Zoo/., LI., 1S91, p. 737. 



