412 MAINE AGRICULTURAI, E^XPERIM^NT STATION. I912. 



duct, seems never to have been clearly recognized in the case of 

 the domestic fowl. Loos ('81) describes this condition very 

 clearly for the oviduct of the crow (Corvus cor one). He states 

 that at the beginning of the breeding season the epithelium of 

 the oviduct invaginates at many places. These invaginations 

 grow deeper into the connective tissue and form a tube. After 

 this tube has reached the connective tissue septum it bends and 

 grows in the opposite direction. These tubes often branch or 

 follow a winding course. With regard to the fowl's oviduct, 

 Loos is not so clear. Other writers and particularly Sacchi 

 ('88) fail to recognize the openings of the tubules into the 

 oviduct. Gadow ('91) in Bronn's "Tierreichs," who follows 

 Sacchi chiefly, makes the following statement (p. 845) "In jede 

 Falte (of the mucosa) erstreckt sich ein centraler Stamm von 

 Bindegewebe der Submucosa, welches sich dann peripherisch 

 verastelt. Der Raum zwischen diesen Verastelungen ist mit 

 zahlreichen, unregelmassig gelagerten, polyhedrischen Zellen 

 erfiillt welche zwischen sich kleine Massen von Eiweiss abson- 

 dern. Die Oberflache der Falten tragt iiberall hohe sehr 

 regelmassige Cylinderzellen, durch welche dann die in der Tiefe 

 secernirten Eiweisskliimpchen austreten und um die Eikugel 

 abgelagert werden." 



This statement which Sacchi also makes, viz., that the secre- 

 tion from the deeper lying gland cells passes out through the 

 epithelial cells, is most certainly in error. Further the gland 

 cells beneath the epithelium are not "unregelmassig gelagert," 

 but are arranged very definitely into tubules as shown in figures 

 465, 471 and 472. Sacchi very probably saw the unicellular 

 glands in the epithelium and believed that these were ducts 

 passing the secretion from the deeper cells rather than being 

 themselves secretory. 



Going back to the description of the tubules, we note from 

 figure 465, that the lumen of the tubules are filled with a finely 

 granular secretion. Further, the cells which form the walls of 

 the tubules are also distended with a granular substance. With- 

 in the cell the granules vary in size from those barely visible, 

 and perhaps smaller, up to a few rather large granules. This 

 represents the condition in that portion of an oviduct which is 

 just beginning to pour out its secretion. Figure 465 is drawn 

 from a section of the albumen region taken a few centimeters 



