1 1 8 MUNSON. [Vol. XV. 



taken by me whose ovaries were turgid with what appeared to 

 be mature eggs, and which could not be distinguished from 

 those examined at Woods Holl at the beginning of the spawning 

 season. Others presented ovaries in which only comparatively 

 few eggs had arrived in the ovarian tubes. The condition of 

 ovaries taken from the females that had been on exhibition 

 at the World's Fair was that of the former, i.e., the ovarian 

 tubes were filled with mature eggs. This being on November 

 I, it was concluded that the eggs had been retained because 

 of the confinement of the animals during the season when 

 oviposition takes place. The above observation shows that, in 

 their native element, females with ovaries in a similar con- 

 dition, at the same season of the year, are abundant, and that 

 neither the fullness of the ovarian tubes, nor the apparent 

 maturity of the eggs, are sure indications of the time when 

 oviposition will take place. Yet, as Kingsley has observed, 

 there are reasons for believing that there is no oviposition 

 in confinement. The ovaries of the female Limuli kept in 

 the large floating aquaria of the Marine Biological Laboratory 

 at Woods Holl were always filled with mature eggs, even after 

 the spawning season was over. 



The movement of Limulus is a uniform, gliding one. 

 Oblivious of everything except the business which occasions 

 its visit, it pursues a more or less direct path for the beach, 

 which is most favorable to the concealment and subsequent 

 development of its eggs. Any attempt at concealment or 

 betrayal of fear, by a hasty retreat, is not to be observed. If, 

 on its first arrival off the beach, it be disturbed, it cannot be 

 induced to deposit its eggs, but endeavors stubbornly to make 

 its way back into deep water. The male still clings to the 

 female, but I have in vain, for hours, endeavored to secure 

 freshly laid eggs by urging them towards the favorable point 

 of oviposition. 



Moulting. — Lockwood found a soft-shelled specimen in the 

 month of February, and concluded that, while the young moult 

 four or five times the first year and adults usually only once, in 

 the month of August, there might be two moults a year even 

 in the case of the adult. As several soft-shelled ones were 



