542 pjior. G. B. HOWES on some 



transport spermatozoa, but tbat a complicated apparatus existed 

 in connexion with the same. 



Spermatozoa were found in the testes of similar specimens 

 examined by "Weber and Halbertsma {cf. "Weber, I. c. pp. 26, 

 27). Dr. Weber says of his specimen that (p. 24) the contents 

 were of the nature of sperm mother-cells and spermatozoa " still 

 united into bundles with their heads and tails in apposition," 

 and that neither the male nor the female elements were as yet 

 ripe. Mr. Chappel's specimen reached me, as already stated, 

 while quite fresh. The remains of its duct of communication 

 with the exterior {d.g\ fig. 1) were found to contain mobile 

 spermatozoa; and, on careful examination, I was able not only 

 to obtain these from the so-called vas deferens, but from the 

 interior of the ovary also. Max "Weber and others have sur- 

 mised that the spermatozoa must, in such cases, ripen and pass 

 out through the ovary ; and my own observation proves this to 

 have been realized. jS"o one has yet detected the passage of ripe 

 ova to the exterior in an hermaphrodite Codfish ; and, in strict- 

 ness, the declaration of a complete and functional hermaphro- 

 ditism for this animal cannot be valid until such passage shall 

 have been observed. In view, however, of the condition of the 

 ovaries, and of the near approach towards maturation of their 

 contents in my own specimen and in those of previous observers, 

 there can be no reasonable doubt that we have to deal with true 

 hermaphrodites, capable of producing both ova and spermatozoa. 



Hermaphroditism among Teleostean fishes is well known. 

 Aristotle knew Serranus to be hermaphrodite ; and the recent 

 researches of Syrski and Brock * and others t have placed it 

 beyond doubt that the hermaphrodite species of that fish are 

 regularly self-fertilizing. Among the Teleostei generally the 

 hermaphroditic condition is known for 16 genera and 19 species 

 at fewest. In three of the former {CentrolopJius, Opliidium, 

 Smarts) the conditions remain doubtful, aggregations of ova 

 having been found in the testes. The hermaphroditic condition 

 has been recorded among the Clupeidce, Cyprinoidei, Esocidce, 

 Gadoidei, Lalroidei, Percoidei, Pleuronectidce, Scomheroidei, 

 Squamipinnes, and Sparoidei — that is to say, among typical and 

 wide-spread families of four of the six great orders now custom- 



* Morphol. Jahrb. Bel. ir. 1878, pp. 567 et seq. 

 i" Cf. Brock, and Max Weber, loc. cit. 



