496 DR DAVY’S FRAGMENTARY NOTES ON THE 
kind of fluid was contained in the common receptacle, but of rather thicker con- 
sistence. This fluid, microscopically examined, was found to abound in sperma- 
tozoa. They were seen also in the fluid of the vas deferens, but not in the 
epididymis, testis, or in its milt-like appendix. The fluid obtained from these 
exhibited only granules similar to those found in the like parts in the R#. clavata, 
suggestive of a growth, in transition, from granules into spermatozoa. The com- 
mon receptacle or bladder terminated in a rudimentary penis, projecting about 
one-third of an inch into the cloaca, and about half an inch from the verge of the 
anus. The spermatozoa, of a spiral form, extremely fine at each extremity, were 
very long in proportion to their breadth—at least thirty-two times longer. Their 
length was about sto of an inch.* 
The female generative organs of the Acanthias have a considerable resemblance 
to those of the torpedo, especially in the circumstance that the uterine cavity, 
when gravid (and it does not appear to exist except in this stage), has a distinctly 
villous structure. 
All the female fish examined, with the exception of one, were procured in 
Malta. 
The fish obtained at Constantinople was got from the market on the 17th Feb- 
ruary. !t was shorter than the male fish already noticed, being about two feet 
long, but proportionally thicker. [I expected to have found it gravid, but it was 
not; the generative organs were little developed. The ovaries, situated high up 
under the liver, were each about the size of a sixpence, and each only a few 
lines thick. They contained a small number of ova, the largest not bigger than 
a peppercorn. These, cut open, yielded a little glairy fluid, which, under the 
microscope, exhibited globules and granules. The oviducts were very small,—so 
much so as to be traced with difficulty. To each of them, near the ovary, a 
glandular body was attached, of about half an inch in length. 
On the 3d March, in a female about a foot and a half long, an ege was found 
in each uterine cavity. It was of a long, oval form, within a delicate transparent 
membrane, containing a little clear fluid There was no appearance of foetal 
development. The uterine cavity was of a bright vermilion colour, and covered 
with villi. The ovaries were situated nearly as in the torpedo; each was a small 
cluster of ova attached to the peritoneum. The ovdiucts joined the infundibulum 
over the superior margin of the liver. In each, a little higher than the uterine 
cavity, was a glandular structure. | 
On the 10th March two uterine cavities, which had been found Grea on open- 
ing the fish in the market at Malta, were brought to me. In each were two 
embryos, with the ova to which they were attached. They were free—that is, 
without any including shell or membrane. The lining coat of the cavity was 
* Pl. XXII, fig. 4, + See fig. 5. i Fig. 6. 

