BREEIUXG HABIT ANI) DKVEI.OF. OF K ACOPHoüFS. 



\2Ì 



A 



B 



are thrust back. It may appear strange 

 that these treading and kneading mo- 

 tions do not injure the eggs, but whan 

 we consider that they are covered over 

 with highly elastic and tenacious jelly 

 full of air bubbles acting as a sort of 

 cushion, the safety of the eggs is not 

 so mysterious as may appear at first 

 sight* 



Fig. 2. 



The hind limbs of the male on the 

 back of the female are bent in a vertical 

 plane. The knee which is strongly 



AB — a thin membrane seen in the 

 sagittal section. A C L> E — a vesicle 

 produced by the folding of the 

 membrane AB. 



flexed is inserted between the anterior margin of the femur and the sides 

 of the belly of the female. The crus and pes are moved as a whole 

 dorso-ventrally, thus stroking the pelvic portion of the female. This 

 motion on the part of the male, it seems to me, is probably done in 

 (j nier to assist, by stimulation, the egg-deposition of the female. In 

 some instances, however, another sort of motion was often gone 

 through by the hind limbs of the male, in this way, viz. the hind limbs 

 are withdrawn from the above mentioned position and soon thrown 

 back, the crus and pes rubbing the dorsal face of the loin and cloaca 

 of the female. Such a motion of the male hind limbs seems to me to 

 be done to clear away the jell}' particles adhering to the region in 

 cpuestion of the female, which possibly interfere with the safe passage 

 of the sperm-fluid. 



The eggs in the frothy mass differ more or less in size according to 

 that of the mother animal, but in general they measure about 1 mm. 

 in diameter, and are at first free from any pigment, which appears onhy 

 later at the tadpole stage. The yolk pole is yellow, while the animal pole 

 is merely pale and somewhat translucent. The very thin structureless 

 yolk-membrane is closely applied to the egg, around which the jolly- 



Eggs and Embryos. 



