130 William A. Kepner. 



staiu deeply. About the follicles they elaborate a homogeneous sub- 

 stance called the chorion. Within the folds between the follicles 

 the chorion forms a partition (Fig. 5). As the egg follicle nears its 

 ultimate size, the entire epithelium elaborates a clearly defined 

 cuticle. The cells now become much shorter. The chromatin of 

 each nucleus becomes assembled into four or six irregular masses 

 which stain very deeply. The process continues until the epithelium 

 is reduced to a very thin cytoplasmic layer with greatly flattened 

 deeply staining nuclei. 



In Scolia dubia the follicle epithelium is concerned chiefly in 

 the production of the chorion and does not secrete food products for 

 the egg cell ; though in the ultimate breaking down of the nurse 

 follicle their disintegration products are most probably taken into 

 the egg cytoplasm for food. Its chief function, therefore, appears 

 to be the formation of the chorion. 



The follicle epithelium is, however, in a secondary manner con- 

 cerned with the nutrition of the egg cell. Bambeke, '97, found 

 that the egg nucleus of Pholcus, at the time yolk is being elaborated 

 out of the material entering the egg cytoplasm from the nurse follicle 

 becomes irregular in contour and at the side nearest the deposit 

 of yolk gives out many slender pseudopods, as if to increase the 

 nuclear surface that many take part in the elaboration of deutoplasm. 

 De Bruyne, '98, quotes Korschelt as saying that the products 

 secreted by the nurse cells are carried to the germinal vesicle and 

 completely transformed by it. Babes, '00, in speaking of the egg 

 of Bhizetragus solstitialis L., says : " Jedenf alls unterliegt es keinem 

 Zweifel, dass in der Eizelle besonders in der Zeit ihres Wachstums, 

 eine ungemein innige Wechselbeziehung zwischen Kern und Zell- 

 plasma besteht, die sich am auffallendsten in den Form- und Lage- 

 veranderungen des ersteren zu erkennen giebt." 



As over against the apparent remarkable nuclear activity observed 

 in the forms studied by the above investigators, the egg nucleus of 

 Scolia dubia shows no change of contour; its chromatin pattern is 

 comparatively constant throughout the complete nutrition series, 

 and except for its position there is indicated no relation between the 

 egg nucleus and the handling of the food substances from the nurse 

 cells. 



