of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



397 



itself is not all in one piece. The length of the whole organ is 14*4 cm., 

 the principal portion of the ovary, which has the same shape and appear- 

 ance as that on the right side, being 3*4 cm. by 2*0. 



The other portion of the ovary is small, and separated from the first 

 by connective tissue and a small piece of testis. The difference in size 

 of the ovaries may be due to the ova having partially escaped from the 

 left. 



Posterior to the ovary are two large lobes of the testis with smallor 

 detached portions. The duct leading from these opens into the oviduct 

 close behind the ovary, and near to the external opening. When the 

 organs were in position, this posterior testis would lie in the'middle line 

 behind the ovaries. The fibrous coat of the ovary is continued over the 

 testis, as on the other side. 



Anteriorly from this coat, but still on the ovary, two small portions of 

 the testis arise : the one simple, the other having several lobules. In 

 front are seven large lobes, with numerous lobules, arranged about the 

 genital blood-vessel, and the connective tissue round it. 



The left organ is neither so long nor so broad as the right, nor are the 

 lobes of the testis so large. The blood-vessels in each run from the 

 anterior end of testis to the dorsal surface of the ovary. 



The duct leading from the testis into the ovary shows the honey- 

 combed appearance on its upper and inner surface mentioned by Professor 

 Howes, and the longitudinal ridges on its lower surface mentioned by 

 Mr Masterman, for the cod. Across the opening is a small fold of the 

 wall of the ovary. This fold is "5 cm. long, and springs from within the 

 ovary. Opening into the duct are the smaller ducts from the side lobes 

 of the testis. There is thus a close relation between the testis and the 

 ovary. Whether these portions of the testes attached to the ovary itself 

 are'j: unctional and shed their contents directly into the cavity of the ovary 

 is not quite clear from the specimen. There was no trace of any duct. 

 But there is no reason why this should not be so, seeing that the sperms 

 from the large lobes must pass through the ovary in any case. The posi- 

 tion and structure of the valve in the duct show that its function is to 

 keep the ova from passing forward to the testis, which otherwise they 

 might easily do, — not to keep the sperms from getting into the ovary. 



The structure of the valve is very much the same as that described by 

 Howes in the cod, but there is no longitudinal median ridge running 

 back into the duct. This fold or valve can be easily pushed into the 

 cavity of the ovary, and thus the sperms would get through the opening 

 in it. But if compressed into the mouth of the duct, the sides of the 

 opening will be pressed together, and no ova or sperms will get through, 

 certainly no ova. 



Masterman, in his paper on ' Hermaphroditism in the Cod,' gives a 

 synopsis of the chief features of eleven examples. Comparing the ling 

 with these, the principal feature is the comparatively large size of the 

 testes. In only one specimen, mentioned by Howes, was there a large 

 testis : in it the testis was on the left side, and as large as the two ovaries 

 together. In the ling the testes were five times as large as the ovaries. 

 Again, the testes were in three main portions: two anterior and one posterior. 

 This variation, though striking, is not peculiar to the ling, because, in the 

 specimens of the cod, the testes were as often posterior as anterior, and in 

 two specimens there were three portions. In none of these was there any 

 division of an ovary into two portions, as in the ling. None of these 

 examples, therefore, seem to have been so complex. With regard to the 

 ducts — the two leading from the anterior portions into the ovaries were 

 exactly alike, and answered to the description given by Masterman for 



