206 ISAO IIJllMA. 



number of strings are usually found in the wider portion of 

 the ovary, near the hind end of the loop. Sometimes the 

 broader, sometimes the narrower end is turned forward, and 

 occasionally one is found doubled up. 



Sections passing through the broader end of the string 

 (fig. 10) show us the same stages that we have already noted 

 in the unliberated string, together with others differing from 

 them in having larger clusters of nuclei {y.,fol.). 



Fig. 12 represents a section somewhat nearer the broader 

 part of the string, and here we find what we may call a 

 primordial ovum. Around one of the nuclei in the larger 

 multi-nucleated mass a distinct cell-like outline has appeared, 

 enclosing a mass of protoplasm much clearer than the sur- 

 rounding protoplasm. Clear areas are seen also around some 

 of the other nuclei, but no distinct boundary line. 



Still nearer the widest part of the string are found more 

 advanced stages. In fig. 13 are represented all the stages 

 thus far described, and three young follicles, as we will now 

 call those sac-like areas enclosing nests of nuclei with ova. 

 As the ovum grows at the expense of the protoplasm en- 

 closed in the follicle, it soon comes to occupy nearly the 

 whole follicle, the remaining nuclei being crowded into the 

 periphery (fig. 14). As a rule, follicles with large ova are 

 situated near the surface of the string, while very young 

 follicles and crypts, containing only nests of indifierent nuclei, 

 are found everywhere between the centre and the periphery 

 of the string. 



From the widest portion of the string towards either ex- 

 tremity, younger and younger follicles are met with, passing 

 finally into simple germ-cells near the ends. There is little 

 difference between the two extreme portions of a string, 

 except that the formation of ova is rather more energetic 

 in the broad terminal portion than in the other. Toward 

 the smaller end of the string the outlines of the germ-celis 

 become somewhat sharper than elsewhere (as shown on the 

 left of fig. 11), and diminish in size (compare figs. 7 and 

 8, taken through the planes a — a and b — v, in fig. 6). It 

 may also be noted that in fig. 7 each nucleus has a single 

 nucleolus, while in fig. 8, and from here onward, the nucleolus 

 appears in several pieces. 



The egg-string appears not to be invested with any distinct 

 membrane at any period of its history. In sections the 

 hardened periphery diff'ers in no particular from the sub- 

 jacent portions. 



In the laying season the larger egg-strings are consider- 

 ably longer than iiny found in winter (measuring from 6 to 



