123 
the upper part of the stomach into the upper part, forming a plug 
in the opening (perhaps, however, this may be due to contraction 
on preservation). 
It may be emphasized that the brood was always found in the 
stomach itself, and not in special compartments formed for that 
purpose, as in the case of Stichaster nutrix, which was found by 
Studer likewise to hatch its young in the stomach. 1 ) 
Concerning the question, how the eggs get to their peculiar 
hatching place, the suggestion lies at hånd that the female, when 
Fig. 2. Two embryos in different stages. The specimen to the right shows one ol 
the most advanced stages which was found in the stomach. 25/1, 
emptying its eggs from the ovaries may assume a position similar 
to that described by M. Sars") for Asterias Miilleri (and Henricia 
sanguinolenta ), with the back raised and the arms forming a hollow 
space below the mouth, in which the eggs collect. It is éasy to 
understand, how the eggs may thus be taken into the stomach. 
That the fertilization of the eggs must take place here, before the 
eggs are taken into the stomach, can hardly be doubted. — 
It is very strange that the eggs and embryos are not digested 
when taken into the stomach. Evidently the normal function of the 
1 Th. Studer: Die Seesterne Siid-Georgiens. Jahrbuch der wissenschaft- 
lichen Anstalten zu Hamburg. II. 1885. pag. 156. 
5 M. Sar s-: Fauna littoralis Norvegiae. l.Lief. Christiania 1846. pag. 58. 
