Mr. E. W. L. Holt on the Ova o/Gobiu3. 39 



I regret that great pressure of time * prevents me (as with 

 the extruded ova) at present from making more than a super- 

 ficial examination of them ; but I hope at a future date to 

 treat the subject in a manner more worthy of it. Meanwhile, 

 liowpver, in the light of my previous remarks a few notes may 

 be of interest. 



The two specimens (the stomachs of whicli were full of the 

 Cyp7'is-\aY\9d of Balanus) measure respectively 2 and Si 

 inches, and the ovaries, which are by no means ripe, are 

 nearly in the same condition in both. Tlie largest ova 

 measure from "6 to '71 millira. in long diameter; they are 

 ovoidal, with one end much broader than the other. 



Numerous oil-globules can be made out, distributed in an 

 irregular manner amongst the granular yolk-matter. The 

 thin zona is visible by careful focusing adhering closely to 

 the yolk, and having outside it another layer in which minute 

 dots, presumably nuclei, are present — in fresh unstained speci- 

 mens under a high power. This layer, the granulosa, is in 

 its turn covered by the process of attachment (which is 

 exactly similar to that of the extruded ova) , a fact which 

 justifies the supposition that the latter was everted at extru- 

 sion, as is the outer membrane in Osmerus. 



The micropyle, a minute funnel-shaped depression, can be 

 made out in favourable unstained specimens, where it is not 

 hidden by the ruptured follicular epithelium. It lies at the 

 broad end of the ^gg, and the process of attachment stretches 

 out on all sides. The meshwork of the latter ceases at the 

 broadest part of the Q^g^ and the filaments continuous with it 

 pass upwards side by side almost to the opposite (narrow) end 

 of the Qggj but do not actually meet there. 



In fresh specimens treated with picro-carmine the process 

 of attachment takes the carmine stain more rapidly than any 

 other part, the granulosa taking it slowly, if at all. In smaller 

 eggs, {. e. half the size of the foregoing, the process of attach- 

 ment is not seen, but minute, deeply staining dots are visible 

 at the broad end of the ^gg^ and probably represent its earliest 

 appearance. The larger stained eggs show an intimate con- 

 nexion between the process and the zona for a short distance 

 around the micropyle, being the area which afterwards be- 

 comes the pedicle. The apertures are comparatively more 

 elongated in this region, with finer interstitial matter (closely 

 applied to the zona), which suddenly thickens at the margin 

 of the pedicle. I could detect no layer between the zona and 



* [Mr. Holt left witliin a few hours for the trawling expedition on the 

 west coast of Ireland. — W. C. M.] 



