Description of a Species of Caligus. 263 



tinctly divided by membranous partitions into narrow compart- 

 ments, each containing an egg, though not quite filled with it. 

 The eggs in the anterior slender portion of the oviduct are oblong 

 and uniformly transparent. As they increase in size, they present 

 a clouded appearance, and become divided into two parts, corres- 

 ponding to the ivhite and the yolk. The latter appears clouded 

 and composed of albuminous globules. The several portions are 

 represented in the exserted portion of the oviduct, (fig. 18.) The 

 eggs have the form of short cylinders with rounded edges. 



In the advanced eggs, at the extremity of the ovary, we ob- 

 served in one instance, that there were two distinct eyes at their 

 outer extremity ; they were approximate, but not situated on the 

 same black ground. In these eggs, the yolk occupied nearly the 

 whole space. 



In addition to the ovaries above described, there is a pair of or- 

 gans in the abdomen, connected with the system of generation. 

 They are straight, flat-cylindrical organs, usually as broad as the 

 external oviduct, and lie along the central portions of the abdo- 

 men. At the lower extremity, they are connected with the ovi- 

 duct a short distance above the vulva, and at the upper, they termi- 

 nate in a cul-de-sac. They contain a single series of transparent, 

 flattened globules, (fig. 18,) occupying, like beads, their central 

 line, and in width about one half the width of the ovary. These 

 false ovaries, when torn or cut, do not emit an albuminous fluid, 

 like the true oviducts, but appear to have a gelatinous consist- 

 ence. They are as much developed in the young, as in the old 

 females. 



The eggs in females of the same size present very diflerent de- 

 grees of development. We have seen full grown individuals with 

 no eggs in the abdomen, and consequently, instead of the swollen 

 appearance usual in the adult female, their abdomens could 

 scarcely be distinguished from those of the male sex. Occasion- 

 ally, very young individuals have had external ovaries ; the small- 

 est observed was scarcely one sixth of an inch long. May we 

 not infer from this, that a single coition is sufficient to impregnate 

 the individuals of at least one succeeding generation ? 



A few instances have come under our notice, of a very extra- 

 ordinary irregularity in these organs. The extremity of the 

 false ovary has been seen hanging externally in the place of the 

 regular external ovaries, and no eggs, nor the internal oviduct, 



