OVtJM IN THE OAPE AND NEW ZEALAND PBRIPATUS. 281 



case in older eggs ; the protoplasm formed a very clear reti- 

 culum, the strands of which stained well and anastomosed with 

 one another to form a very definite network, on and occa- 

 sionally between the strands of which small, round, highly 

 refractive, deeply-staining bodies are present. The spaces 

 between the strands are sometimes occupied by a granular 

 faintly-staining substance, which is probably a coagulum. In 

 this ovum there was no trace of any structure in the least 

 comparable to a nucleus. 



In the other non-nucleated ovum the strands of the proto- 

 plasmic reticulum are very clear, but the highly refractive 

 particles are not present, but there are some angular homo- 

 geneous bodies present in the protoplasm. A transverse section 

 of this ovum is shown in fig. 10. As is there figured at one 

 point on the surface a slight prominence is present, and in it 

 there are a few fine threads of chromatin lying at right angles 

 to the surface of the ovum. This may be caused by the 

 entering in of a spermatozoon, but I am not able to state this 

 definitely. A similar structure was present in one or two 

 other ova, but in no case was it so clear as to enable me to 

 state definitely that the process was one of fertilization. At 

 first sight it might appear to be due to the formation of a 

 polar body, but I do not think it is so, as in all the cases 

 which I have of that process, which I shall describe below, the 

 appearances are quite difi'erent to the above. 



The next stage is that at which the germinal vesicle is again 

 present ; as to its formation and origin I have no observations. 

 A transverse section through an egg of such a stage is shown 

 in fig. 12. In it the protoplasmic reticulum is very clearly 

 shown with small chromatin granules lying on the strands. 

 On the periphery at one side in the middle of the long axis of 

 the ovum there is a small mass of dense protoplasm, which at 

 its edges passes into the loose reticulum of the ovum. In its 

 centre it is somewhat denser, and a few chromatin granules are 

 there cut through, while in a few sections respectively before 

 and behind the chromatin the protoplasm shows indications of 

 a radiate arrangement which is due to the stars at the ends of 



