88 The Rete-Cords and Sex-Cords of Chrysemys 
able in this stage from the tissue of the funnel-cords but are in close 
contact with them. 
In earlier stages the funnel-cords are not even in contact with the 
capsules of Bowman, although they lie close to them. In these stages 
there are no evaginations from the capsules of Bowman, although a 
thickening of the cells of the medio-dorsal portions of them indicates 
the general region where these evaginations will take place. In the much 
earlier stages described above, 6 mm. C-7’., the primary union of Mal- 
pighian corpuscle, peritoneal funnel and funnel-cord has already been 
described. The later union of Malpighian corpuscle and funnel-cord 
is a secondary one, and has nothing to do with the temporary primary 
union. The breaking away and reuniting of these elements seems to be a 
useless process which I confess I am at a loss to explain. I can merely 
describe it. It is, however, a most easily demonstrated fact. 
In later stages, the evaginations from the Malpighian corpuscles closely 
fuse with the funnel-cords, and are not to be distinguished from them. 
As development proceeds, the primary Malpighian corpuscles are often 
drawn some distance laterad of the sex-gland, at the same time pulling 
the funnel-cords laterad and causing them to stretch. In these cases 
each funnel-cord becomes sharply bent at the point where the evagination 
from the capsule of Bowman meets it; it is then continued in a dorso- 
medial direction to the adrenal body. As shown above, each primary 
Malpighian corpuscle is connected with the sex-cord by a cord of tissue, 
formed by an evagination from the capsule of Bowman plus the basal 
portion of a funnel-cord. These strands uniting the mesonephros with 
the sex-gland are the rete-cords and constitute the rete-testis or rete-ovaril, 
as the case may be. Im these later stages the funnel-cords are more 
elongated and slender, but far more compact than in the early stages. 
Plate I, Fig. 4 shows the rete-cords and the relation that they bear to 
the sex-cords and primary Malpighian corpuscles. Here the base of the 
funnel-cord lies within the sex-gland and forms one of the sex-cords. 
This has been observed in many cases. In very many instances, however, '- 
the funnel-cords lie wholly outside the sex-gland, their bases being still 
attached at a greater or less distance from the sex-gland to the peritoneum 
covering the mesonephros. 
It will be noticed that the two rete-cords shown in this model are 
united to one another by a thickening of each in the direction of the 
long axis of the sex-gland. This represents a tendency to form a longi- 
tudinal canal uniting the rete-cords as in the Amphibia and to a certain 
extent in the Elasmobranchs, and in the lizard (Braun, 77). This 
