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THE AMEBIC AN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



inclusion of the spermatozoa several hours or days may 

 elapse before the eggs ripen and ovulation occurs. "In 

 1903 one interval of 2 days was recorded; in 1904, one 

 of 4 days ; in 1906, one of 6 days ; in 1907, 4 days in one 

 pond, 5 in another, and 7 in a third. ' ' 



"Egg-laying generally begins about the first of April. 

 In two or three of the last eight years, eggs have been 

 noted before that date. In this period, the earliest record 

 is March 20, 1903. In 1901 they did not begin depositing 

 eggs until after the middle of April. The egg-laying 

 for the species may extend over a month or more. Rarely 

 do we find fresh eggs after May 1. In 1907 our latest 

 record for fresh eggs is April 30; our latest for fresh 

 spermatophores in the same pond, April 27. " 3 



The number of eggs in a complement varies from 130 

 to 225. These may be deposited in one to ten bunches, 

 two or three per female being a fair average. There is not 

 necessarily uniformity in the size of the bunches, for one 

 female was known to deposit two bunches, one of 140 

 eggs, the other of 32. 



At least thirty minutes are usually consumed in de- 

 positing a normal bunch of eggs. One female in de- 

 positing a bunch of 140 eggs remained beneath the sur- 

 face for over an hour. During this time she neither 

 strove to get into a position where she could keep her 

 nostrils out of the water, nor did she once arise to the 

 surface for air. As in other cases, the eggs came out 

 slowly without apparent effort or straining, sometimes 

 but four in a minute. During deposition she was motion- 

 less, except for occasional slow movements of the tail. 

 Immediately after deposition, however, for two or three 

 minutes, she swayed back and forth vigorously to disen- 

 gage herself, for the fresh jelly stuck to the under side 

 of her tail and cloaca. Ten hours later another bunch 

 of 32 eggs finished the complement. 



3 Wright, A. H., "Notes 



