462 EMBRYOLOGY OF THE TURTLE. PAR Teel: 
In an ege of about y}5 of an inch in diameter, the whole central mass (PI. 
8, fig. 12, f) is coarsely granulated, whilst a layer of about one eighth the diam- 
eter of the egg, resting upon the yolk sac, consists of excessively minute molecular 
forms, densely packed together, (e,) resembling the entire contents of another egg of 
a somewhat smaller size, described above (Pl 8, fig. 8a). The only explanation 
we can give of this appearance is, that it is one of the several modes by which 
the coarse granular yolk fills up the entire egg, as it resembles, in a certain 
respect, those phases where the concentric rings occur (PI. 8, fig. 19). 
Returning now to the consideration of the more closely related heaps of coarse, 
more or less angular granules, in an egg which may easily be recognized by the 
unaided eye, (Pl. 8, fig. 15a,) we find that, closely set among them, are multitu- 
dinous speck-like particles, which moreover extend their sway throughout the clear 
space. The darker portion of the yolk occupies here about two thirds of the 
whole egg cavity, and has scattered a few of its granules through the remaining 
third. Finally, the whole egg is filled by such coarse matter, but not uniformly ; 
it still appears in distinct aggregations, (Pl. 8, fig. 15,) which, when first seen, 
dimly resemble so many granulated cell contents, the clear spaces between them 
representing, as it were, the cell walls. The granules are, again, finer than in the 
last egg, but more numerous in each heap. 
The interspaces of these granular clusters constitute one of the several forms of 
albuminous concretions which remain to be noticed. In the present case they come 
nearest to the drop-lke form; in fact, a slight approximation of the groups would 
complete their tendency to a globular arrangement, and end in perfect identity. 
However, the prevalence of granular cumuli throughout the egg is not always con- 
comitant with the obliteration of the clear space, for at times the latter is still 
present over at least one fifth of the whole egg, (Pl. 8, fig. 17a,) whilst the com- 
ponents of the former have become dispersed more evenly through the previously 
clear interstices ; and, moreover, they are considerably augmented and intermixed 
with clearer, less refractive, and less angular cell-like forms (Pl. 8, fig. 17b). Even 
till quite a late period an egg of 31, of an inch in diameter may be found, now 
and then, spotted with spherical, clear, and very hyaline globules of albuminous 
matter, (Pl. 8, fig. 16a, 16b,) so closely resembling the germinal vesicle, that noth- 
ing but their number, their much smaller size, and their easy diffusion by the slight- 
est pressure, marks them as belonging to an entirely different category. 
Here, again, it is not irrelevant to insist upon the presence of a wall around 
the germinal vesicle, as additional evidence for its existence may be derived from 
the conduct of the clear spaces just mentioned, whose origin and mode of forma- 
tion we know so conclusively that we can readily foretell how easily pressure 
would cause them gradually to fade away by diffusion among the neighboring gran- 
