PROCESS OF GERMINATION. 161 



ative of the forces used in their formation. Through the 

 destruction of their power, their forces can be liberated to 

 again pass into other powers of energy. 



THE GERM. 



That portion of the female organism which most nearly 

 conforms to the spermatozoon of the male, is the ovum, or 

 egg, or, more accurately speaking, the most essential part of the 

 ovum, the germinal spot. The germinal spot appears to cor- 

 respond to the nucleus of the cell in many respects. The 

 germinal vesicle, in which the germinal spot is contained, 

 appears a cell surrounded by a mass of nutrient matter known 

 as the yolk, and the whole surrounded b} r a vitelline membrane 

 or yolk-sac. 



The ovum takes its origin from within the stroma, or the 

 cavity of the ovaries, which answer analogically to the secret- 

 ing process of the testicle. In many of the lower animals 

 the testes and ovaries bear a close resemblance to each other, 

 and the same holds good in the early or embryotic condition 

 of the generative apparatus of man. In some of the lower 

 grades of animals, as generally in the articulates and mol- 

 lusks, the ovaries have a glandular character, but in the verti- 

 brates the ova are evolved in the midst of a solid fibrous tissue 

 or stroma. 



The likeness between the spermatozoa and the ova is again 

 indicated by the fact that they both appear to be the product 

 of cell-action, with development having taken place after the 

 dehiscence of the cell from its companion cells. We thus 

 have in the sperm the mother-cell containing the nuclei which 

 are formed into ciliated cells, and which are to develop a 

 vitality sufficient to support the motion necessary to them for 

 the fulfilment of their uses. In the ovum we recognize an 

 advanced development, in which the cell containing its nucleus 

 is the essence ; the nucleus in both being the essential part 

 for the exercise of the complete function of either, — the pro- 

 duction of the individual life. 



The ova in women originate in ovisacs or follicles, usually 

 termed Graffian vesicles, which are imbedded in the more 

 peripheral portions of the stroma. Each follicle in its fully 

 formed condition consists of a membrane and contents. First, 



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