THE SPERMATHECA OF EURYCEA BISLINEATA

¹ SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MASS

The spermatheca of Eurycea bislineata is a compactly walled-in set of tubules in the arrangement of a miniature "cat-o'-nine-tails"; the tails are the bulbed or flask-like storage tubules and the long curved handle is the central tubule which is both entrance and exit for spermatozoa. The organ develops slowly in the median dorsal wall of the cloaca during and after metamorphosis until the autumn before the first egg-laying season, when, more rapidly, the majority of the tubules are formed, pigment appears forming the walls and sockets for the tubules and the columnar lining of the system is completed, proliferating back, probably, from the central tubule.

The author expresses profound appreciation for the help and advice of Dr. Harris Hawthorne Wilder and Mrs. Inez Whipple Wilder in the preparation of this paper.