510 ROBERT W. HEGNER 
bacteria-like rods. The secondary nuclei also increase in number 
around the oocyte nucleus; the.nucleus itself does not increase 
in size. Both the oocyte nucleus and the secondary nuclei are 
sometimes irregular in shape, a condition that may be due to 
the effects of fixation, or that may represent a stage in budding 
or in amitotic nuclear division (page 518). 
The next phase of the growth period (Stage G, fig. 14, G, fig. 29) 
witnesses the lengthening of the oocyte and the further arrange- 
ment of the nurse cells to form a compact group, which becomes 
surrounded by epithelial cells, thus producing a definite nurse 
chamber. The bacteria-like bodies increase in number as the 
oocyte grows and continue to fill it completely with bundles of 
rods. The secondary nuclei near the oocyte nucleus also in- 
crease slightly in number. 
Shortly after this condition is reached the oocyte is invaded 
just beneath the nurse chamber by an influx of cytoplasm 
elaborated by the nurse cells (fig. 30, c). This cytoplasm is © 
free from the bacteria-like bodies and it seems very probable 
that it either forces these rods out of its path or else dissolves 
those which it encounters. There is evidence that, from this 
stage on, the number of bacteria-like rods does not increase, the 
rods gradually lose their compact grouping and become further 
separated from one another, the spaces between them probably 
being occupied by the cytoplasm added to the oocyte by the 
nurse cells. The oocyte nucleus by this time (fig. 30) is com- 
pletely surrounded by secondary nuclei from which it differs 
in appearance. The secondary nuclei contain a rather dense 
reticulum and one or several large chromatin granules, whereas 
the oocyte nucleus is very irregular in shape and contains a 
delicate reticulum which causes it to appear clearer. The irregu- 
lar shape of the oocyte nucleus is probably due to the pressure 
upon it of the secondary nuclei which surround it. Its decrease 
in size is also noticeable and one cannot but suspect that this 
decrease is directly related to the increase in the number of 
secondary nuclei. A transverse section through an oocyte near 
the nurse chamber is shown in figure 31. 
