OVUM IN THE OAPE AND NEW ZEALAND PERIPATUS. 3 
the cavity of the ovary the nuclei are pear-shaped, and have 
a roughly columnar arrangement, while the protoplasm itself 
has a very irregular outline fraying out into the cavity of the 
ovary, is very reticulate and spongy, and is traversed by wavy 
strie, which are probably elastic fibres. The protoplasm of 
the whole of the germinal epithelium possesses a similar 
structure. The nuclei at this time are all alike, there being no 
distinction between those which will become ova and the 
remaining ones, so that it seems probable that any nucleus 
may subsequently become an ovum, and that there is no dif- 
ferentiation into germinal and follicle cells, &c. At this time 
the only spermatozoa which are present in the female genera- 
tive apparatus are a few scattered ones in the cavity of the 
ovary, and a few, which are generally arranged in groups, 
lying in the protoplasmic meshwork of the germinal epi- 
thelium. 
I have not examined any ovaries of May or June, but from 
July onward up till the time the ova are about to pass into the 
oviduct the ovarian tubes are crowded with a thick matted mass 
of spermatozoa (figs. 3 and 4). Like Mr. Sedgwick (14), I 
have never found any spermatozoa in any other part of the 
female generative organs. 
The structure of the ovary of P. capensis differs from that 
of P. Edwardsii, as described by Gaffron (9), since in the 
latter the whole ovarian tube is lined by germinal epithelium, 
the ovary being embedded in the stroma, and hence the ova lie 
all round the cavity instead of along the outer side only. 
The Ovarian Ovum.—In July the ova are perfectly dis- 
tinguishable from the other cells of the germinal epithelium. 
Each ovum (v. fig. 8) possesses a central nucleus surrounded 
by a layer of dense granular protoplasm, and lies on the outer 
side of the ovarian wall, where it forms a short, blunt projec- 
tion into the body-cavity. The nucleus is large, has a central 
position, and is distinguished from the cell substance by stain- 
ing rather more deeply; it is granular and contains a not 
very clearly-defined nucleolus. There is no distinct line of de- 
marcation between the protoplasm of the ovum and that of 
