THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 



tion in the number of chromosomes to one-half the number which 

 is characteristic of the somatic cells.* By the first mitosis the 



FIG. 322. DIAGRAM OF REDUCTION DURING THE MATURATION OF THE OVUM. 

 A-H, successive stages ; one-half of the cell, only, has been .represented, c, centro- 

 some ; w, cell membrane ; n, nucleus ; p l and p 2 , polar bodies formed in successive mito- 

 ses ; F, germinal vesicle, which, at F 1 , has nearly disappeared. The somatic number of 

 chromoses in the diagram is four ; after reduction the germinal number is two. 



* Body cells as distinct from the germ cells. 



