OVAItY AND OVARIAN OVA IN CERTAIN MARINl'] FISHES. 117 



Reabsorptiou of Aborted Eggs in Spent Ovaries. 



I will proceed now to the consideration of the opaque granular 

 masses which are so frequently seen in the fresh germinal 

 tissue of fishes^ ovaries. As was previously stated, these masses 

 are eggs in which the development of yolk has proceeded to 

 some stage, and which have then died, and are in process of 

 reabsorptiou. On August 1st, 1895, I made a careful examina- 

 tion of the ovary of a sole 17 inches long, obtained in 

 Grimsby market, A sole of this size is invariably mature, and 

 it may be presumed^ therefore, that this specimen had spawned 

 in the preceding spawning season — that is, about May or June. 

 The roe was thin and narrow, though of considerable IcDgtli, 

 and when cut open presented the appearance suggestive of the 

 spent condition. It was red and congested, and here and 

 there were opaque yellow spots, which were evidently dead 

 yolked eggs. Microscopic examination of a portion of the 

 fresh tissue showed that it consisted chiefly of transparent eggs, 

 the larger of which were '16 mm. in diameter, and contained 

 scattered minute oil-globules. There were no eggs containing 

 yolk, except those which were evidently dead and had been 

 left behind in an incomplete state of maturation when the 

 spawning process was over. Fig. 16 represents the appear- 

 ance of a portion of the tissue under a low power. The 

 dead yolked eggs were from '29 to '33 mm. in diameter, 

 and were in various stages of yolk development, the 

 largest being quite opaque. As seen in the figure, they 

 had shrunken away from the walls of their follicles very 

 considerably. 



I have not been able to make a complete histological study 

 in prepared sections of the history of these dead eggs and the 

 process of their absorption. I can only describe briefly the 

 condition in which I find them in a few specimens of different 

 species. The appearance they present in sections differs very 

 much according to the stage at which their development has 

 been arrested. In cases where they have ceased to develop at 



