12 THE EMBRYOLOGY OF THE HONEY BEE 



PP 



FiG. 5. Anterior half of a sagittal section of an egg, Stage I, showing 

 the polar protoplasm (PP), the cortical layer (CL) and portions of sev- 

 eral cleavage cells (CC), x 243. 



dition, the deep staining meshwork is readily identified as proto- 

 plasm (3), the cavities between the meshes representing the 

 spaces formerly filled by the vitelline spheres. These cavities 

 were of course originally spherical, but have become more or 

 less distorted by the action of the reagents with which the eggs 

 were treated. These spaces are however not invariably empty. 

 In many preparations, more particularly those treated with acetic 

 alcohol or Gilson's fluid, a pale granular precipitate partly or en- 

 tirely fills these spaces. The small rounded deeply staining bodies 

 are evidently to be identified with the vitelline bodies (2). 

 They are, however, not always present, or rather are present in 

 varying number in different preparations. The natural inference 

 is that they are more or less soluble in the reagents with which 

 the eggs are treated preliminary to sectioning, since they are al- 

 ways visible in fresh material. These bodies are always found 

 in sections of ova fixed with picro-formol although much more 

 abundant in some preparations than in others but are sparse 



