No. 3.] EGG OF ALLOLOBOPHORA FCETIDA. 52 1 



these masses increasing with the progress of degeneration. 

 We interpret the normal condition as that shown, for exam- 

 ple, in Photos 41-44, PI. XLII, in which relatively minute 

 osmophile granules are quite evenly distributed throughout the 

 cytoplasm. At the proximal end of the ovary often a major- 

 ity of the eggs contain an abnormal amount of osmophile 

 substance massed as in Photo 45, PL XLII. This condi- 

 tion is in keeping with the fact that in most cocoons the 

 number of degenerating eggs is far in excess of the normal 

 eggs — sometimes in so large a proportion as twenty-five to one. 

 These degenerating eggs can be readily recognized under the 

 dissecting microscope, and when an advanced stage of degen- 

 eration is reached the eggs fall to pieces or collapse as soon 

 as they are dropped into fixative. If in these cases of degen- 

 eration we have an exaggerated expression of the formation 

 of the normal osmophile (deutoplasmic) granules, then this 

 Qgg supports Van Bambeke's theory to the limited extent 

 that some cytoplasmic constituent becomes metamorphosed 

 into osmophile granules. What the substance is we are 

 unable to determine ; but we do not believe that the entire 

 yolk-nucleus is sacrificed to the formation of these granules, 

 as Van Bambeke claims for the ^gg of Pholcus. We are 

 convinced that in the egg of Allolobophora the yolk-nucleiis 

 persists mid finally a part of it contributes to the formation 

 of the polar rings. 



A comparison of the photos of Pis. XLI-XLIV with the 

 lithographic plate of an earlier paper (9) will demonstrate that 

 these photos taken directly from the preparations support the 

 interpretation then published, that "the polar rings and the 

 so-called yolk-nucleus are one and the same substance." At 

 that time one of us differentiated this substance from the rest 

 of the cytoplasm with Lyon's blue. Its distribution is very 

 variable, this variability often bearing a definite relation to 

 special fixatives, and a differentiation in color is possible only 

 where the substance is aggregated into definite masses. This 

 was accentuated in the above-mentioned paper (9) as follows : 

 " The distribution of the archoplasm in all these eggs is 

 modified by the fixative ; corrosive sublimate or corrosive 



