THE OVUM 



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Fig. 60. — Eggs of the annelid AV;rw, before and after fertilization, X 400 (for intermediate 

 stages see Fig. 95 J. 



A. Before fertilization. The large germinal vesicle occupies a nearly central position. It con- 

 tains a network of chromatin in which are seen five small darker bodies ; these are the quadruple 

 chromosome-groups, or tetrads, in process of formation (not all of them are shown) ; these alone 

 persist in later stages, the principal mass of the network being lost; g.s. double germinal spot, 

 consisting of a chromatic and an achromatic sphere". This egg is heavily laden with yolk, in the 

 form of clear dentoplasm-spheres {d) and fat-drops (/), uniformly distributed through the cyto- 

 plasm. The peripheral layer of cytoplasm (peri-vitelline layer) is free from deutoplasm. Outside 

 this the membrane. B. The egg some time after fertilization and about to divide. The deuto- 

 plasm is now concentrated in the lower hemisphere, and the peri-vitelline layer has disappeared. 

 Above are the two polar bodies {p.b.). Below them lies the mitotic figure, the chromosomes 

 dividing. 



