OVUM IN THE CAPE AND NEW ZEALAND PERIPATUS., 7 
case in older eggs; the protoplasm formed a very clear reti- 
culum, the strands of which stained well and anastomosed with 
one another to form a very definite network, on and occa- 
sionally between the strands of which small, round, highly 
refractive, deeply-staining bodies are present. The spaces 
between the strands are sometimes occupied by a granular 
faintly-staining substance, which is probably a coagulum. In 
this ovum there was no trace of any structure in the least 
comparable to a nucleus. 
In the other non-nucleated ovum the strands of the proto- 
plasmic reticulum are very clear, but the highly refractive 
particles are not present, but there are some angular homo- 
geneous bodies present in the protoplasm. A transverse section 
of this ovum is shown in fig. 10. As is there figured at one 
point on the surface a slight prominence is present, and in it 
there are a few fine threads of chromatin lying at right angles 
to the surface of the ovum. This may be caused by the 
entering in of a spermatozoon, but I am not able to state this 
definitely. A similar structure was present in one or two 
other ova, but in no case was it so clear as to enable me to 
state definitely that the process was one of fertilization. At 
first sight it might appear to be due to the formation of a 
polar body, but I do not think it is so, as in all the cases 
which I have of that process, which I shall describe below, the 
appearances are quite different to the above. 
The next stage is that at which the germinal vesicle is again 
present ; as to its formation and origin I have no observations. 
A transverse section through an egg of such a stage is shown 
in fig. 12. In it the protoplasmic reticulum is very clearly 
shown with small chromatin granules lying on the strands. 
On the periphery at one side in the middle of the long axis of 
the ovum there is a small mass of dense protoplasm, which at 
its edges passes into the loose reticulum of the ovum. In its 
centre it is somewhat denser, and a few chromatin granules are 
there cut through, while in a few sections respectively before 
and behind the chromatin the protoplasm shows indications of 
a radiate arrangement which is due to the stars at the ends of 
