2 1 6 W. M. SMALLWOOD. 



were laying eggs when fixed but none of these showed any of the 

 maturation phenomena. Fig. 3, PI. I., shows the prophase of 

 the first maturation. The asters have moved part way around 

 the nucleus and a few spindle fibers are evident. The nuclear 

 wall on the side toward the middle has been partly broken down. 

 The chromatin shows but a slight tendency to take a stain although 

 it is collecting into definite masses. The chief importance of this 

 drawing centers around the process by means of which matura- 

 tion occurs, namely, the mitotic process. 



When this material was collected it was not thought that mat- 

 uration began until after deposition because of the observations 

 quoted. For that reason much time was spent studying the eggs 

 just after deposition, but in all cases none of the earlier stages 

 were found. In two or three eggs undoubted polar bodies were 

 found after the eggs had been deposited, and such a case is 

 shown in Fig. 4, PI. 1. Fig. 4 represents the late telophase of 

 what I judge to be the second maturation. In the polar cell 

 there are several vesicles which probably represent chromatin. 

 In the egg the chromatin vessels are very small and grouped 

 among the remains of the breaking down astral fibers. These 

 vesicles collect into a single vesicle, the female pro-nucleus, Fig. 



5, PL I- 



Certainly these two figures do not furnish a complete account 



of maturation, but they do show : (i) The nature of the process ; 

 (2) that this process begins in the gonophore ; (3) that Miss 

 Bunting's observations are not correct, because if what she ob- 

 served were polar bodies they would be found attached to the egg 

 before and after segmentation, but such is not the case. The 

 polar bodies usually drop off as soon as the eggs are discharged. 

 In all of the eggs studied but two were found which retained the 

 egg nucleus after the egg had been deposited. 



One of the curious conditions is shown in Fig. 5, where the 

 female pro-nucleus lies next to the periphery of the egg with a 

 few fibers apparently starting from its outer pole. This was 

 thought for some time to mean the prophase in maturation, but 

 never could fibers or an aster be found at the inner pole. Just 

 why there should be a small furrow over this nucleus I do not 

 know, and such a furrow does not always occur. It might be 



