Chapter II.— REPRODUCTION. 
THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 
The breeding habits of an animal are not only of great scientific interest, but of 
the utmost practical importance, in view of any experiments which we may under- 
take in its artificial propagation. When this work was begun the breeding habits 
of the lobster were very imperfectly understood, and until now no exhaustive study 
of the subject has been attempted. In questions of this kind, one may be led to 
draw conclusions from too slender data, since an abundance of carefully attested 
facts gathered from a sufficiently wide area can be attained ouly with great difficulty. 
In the summer of 1891 I made as full a study as the time would allow of the 
reproductive organs and habits of the lobster at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and in 
the summer and fall of 1893 I was able to add to my knowledge of this subject by 
materials gathered at different points along the northern Atlantic coast. 
The reproductive organs will now be briefly considered, reserving a description of 
their structure and development for another part of this paper. (See Chapter X.) 
The ovaries, or “coral” as they are sometimes called, consist of two cylindrical 
rods of tissue united by a transverse bridge in the upper part of the body, and are 
immediately exposed upon opening the dorsal body wall. The uniting bridge of tissue 
probably represents the first trace of a fusion, which is expressed in various degrees 
in different Decapods. The ovarian lobes extend over about two-thirds the length of 
the animal, from behind the head to the third, fourth, or fifth segments of the “tail,” 
and when approaching maturity are of a rich, dark- green color (plate 36, fig. 123; see 
also plate 38). The ripe ovaries are so much swollen that they fill all the available 
space in the upper parts of the body-cavity. The bead-like eggs are clearly seen 
through the thin ovarian wall, and when this is cut they flow out, if perfectly ripe, in 
an uninterrupted stream. When the congested ovary is not mature the loosened eggs 
stick together and can not be easily disengaged without injury. A female with eggs 
approaching maturity can be readily distinguished by extending the translucent 
membrane between the “tail” and carapace, through which the deep-green color of 
the ovary is at once apparent, but since the eggs can not be pressed from the unyield- 
ing body of the animal, there is no way of telling when these are ripe short of actual 
dissection. 
The secondary organs of reproduction in the female are: (a) The oviducts, two short 
membranous tubes, which lead from the ovaries to the exterior, and open, one on each 
side, upon the basal segments of the second pair of walking legs; ( b ) the copulatory 
pouch or seminal receptacle, for storage of spermatozoa (plate 7, and plate 38, fig. 130), 
situated between the bases of the third pair of walking legs; (c) cement glands, which 
secrete the material by which the eggs are fixed to the swimming legs (plate 40, fig. 
144, and plate 49, figs. 211, 212): (d) the first pair of abdominal appendages, which 
are so reduced in size and modified as to be useless for swimming. 
T. C. B. 1895-3 
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