1 6 BERTRAM G. SMITH. 



capsules at the end of the uterus nearest the cloaca, hence those 

 first formed, contain no eggs ; likewise those nearest the oviduct 

 proper, hence the last formed, are empty. The egg envelopes 

 at this time are very soft, much wrinkled, contain no water and 

 therefore fit closely about and between the eggs, taking up very 

 little extra space. The number of eggs in a single uterus was 

 counted in one specimen of average size and found to number 

 220 ; in another specimen of equal size 225. Those remaining 

 in the ovary were very small (about 1-2 mm. in diameter), hence 

 could not mature until another season. Therefore the number 

 of eggs deposited by a female of average size in a single season 

 must be about 450 — probably more in the case of a large 

 female. 



The strings of eggs after deposition are usually found twisted 

 together in a tangled mass, corresponding to their condition in 

 the uterus. The process of egg-laying was observed in aquaria 

 in several instances. Egg-laying generally begins slowly, a short 

 string of capsules containing from six to a dozen eggs protruding 

 from the cloaca for many hours before the main mass is depos- 

 ited ; the majority of the eggs are deposited more rapidly, in a 

 constant stream, the process requiring only about five minutes. 

 The newly laid egg capsules take up water slowly, so that for a 

 day or two the envelopes remain flaccid and much wrinkled. 

 They gradually become plump and turgid (see Fig. 5) by os- 

 mosis, affording much more efficient protection to the eggs ; the 

 folding of the envelope almost entirely disappears. When the 

 eggs are removed from the water, the egg proper looks much 

 larger than it really is, because magnified by the spherical cap- 

 sule at the bottom of which it lies. 



As already recorded (Smith, '06 2 ), of the two spawnings of 

 eggs found during the autumn of 1905, one lot of eggs was in 

 the open, the other partly under a rock. The eggs were not 

 searched for under rocks at this time. In the season of 1906, 

 about a dozen nests were found, all in cavities under rocks, and 

 only a few scattering eggs were found in the open. Hence the 

 deposition of eggs under rocks is the normal procedure, and 

 their occurrence in the open quite exceptional. The "nest" of 

 Cryptobranchus is simply the ordinary dwelling-place of the ani- 

 mal, used for spawning purposes. 



