166 W. H. LONGLEY 



SUMMARY 



1 . Maturation stages are found in greater numbers in the 

 ovaries of sexually immature than in those of mature animals. 



2. Although eggs containing first or second polar spindles are 

 found in the ovaries of sexually immature animals or in those of 

 mature animals before copulation has occurred, maturation in 

 all eggs which are destined to undergo a normal extra-ovarian 

 development is dependent upon pairing. 



3. The best criterion for distinguishing the first and second 

 polar spindles, apart from the presence of the first polar body, 

 is the condition of the chromatin. 



4. The reduced number of chromosomes in the cat's egg is 

 not less than fourteen. 



5. In preserved material the germinal vesicle of the full grown 

 egg and the first and second polar spindles agree in being found at 

 the periphery of the egg at either the protoplasmic or deutoplas- 

 mic pole or at any intermediate point. 



6. Two polar bodies are formed in all cases, the first in the 

 ovary and the second in the Fallopian tube after the entrance of 

 the sperm head into the egg. 



7. The first and second polar bodies can usually but not always 

 be distinguished. 



8. Like the maturation of the egg, ovulation is dependent 

 upon copulation and occurs about the end of the second day after 

 pairing. 



9. The average number of eggs discharged at one ovulation 

 is approximately four. 



10. There is no regular alternation in the functioning of the 

 ovaries. 



11. If the young are removed within a day of birth the mother 

 may pass through a second period of heat and be impregnated 

 within three to four weeks. 



12. Very large numbers of spermatozoa may reach the Fal- 

 lopian tube. There is a strongly marked tendency on their part 

 to collect in the immediate neighborhood of the egg. 



