OVUM IN THE OAPE AND NEW ZEALAND PERIPATUS. 277 



the cavity of the ovary the nuclei are pear-shaped, and have 

 a roughly columnar arrangement, while the protoplasm itself 

 has a very irregular outline fraying out into the cavity of the 

 ovary, is very reticulate and spongy, and is traversed by wavy 

 striae, which are probably elastic fibres. The protoplasm of 

 the whole of the germinal epithelium possesses a similar 

 structure. The nuclei at this time are all alike, there being no 

 distinction between those which will become ova and the 

 remaining ones, so that it seems probable that any nucleus 

 may subsequently become an ovum, and that there is no dif- 

 ferentiation into germinal and follicle cells, &c. At this time 

 the only spermatozoa which are present in the female genera- 

 tive apparatus are a few scattered ones in the cavity of the 

 ovary, and a few, which are generally arranged in groups, 

 lying in the protoplasmic meshwork of the germinal epi- 

 thelium. 



I have not examined any ovaries of May or June, but from 

 July onward up till the time the ova are about to pass into the 

 oviduct the ovarian tubes are crowded with a thick matted mass 

 of spermatozoa (figs. 3 and 4). Like Mr. Sedgwick (14), I 

 have never found any spermatozoa in any other part of the 

 female generative organs. 



The structure of the ovary of P. capensis dififers from that 

 of P. Edwardsii, as described by Gaffron (9), since in the 

 latter the whole ovarian tube is lined by germinal epithelium, 

 the ovary being embedded in the stroma, and hence the ova lie 

 all round the cavity instead of along the outer side only. 



The Ovarian Ovum. — In July the ova are perfectly dis- 

 tinguishable from the other cells of the germinal epithelium. 

 Each ovum (v. fig. 3) possesses a central nucleus surrounded 

 by a layer of dense granular protoplasm, and lies on the outer 

 side of the ovarian wall, where it forms a short, blunt projec- 

 tion into the body-cavity. The nucleus is large, has a central 

 position, and is distinguished from the cell substance by stain- 

 ing rather more deeply; it is granular and contains a not 

 very clearly-defined nucleolus. There is no distinct line of de- 

 marcation between the protoplasm of the ovum and that of 



