THE OVARIAN EGG. 287 
Every egg is already such a centre, differing from 
the cells that surround it by no material elements, 
but by the principle of life in which its individ- 
uality consists, which is to make it a new being, 
instead of a fellow-cell with those that build up 
the body of the parent animal, and remain com- 
ponent parts of it. This intangible something is- 
the subtile element that eludes our closest anal- 
ysis; it is the first indication of the immaterial 
principle according to which the new being is to 
develop. The physical germ we see; the spirit- 
ual germ we cannot see, though we may trace its 
action on the material elements through which it 
is expressed. 
The first change in the yolk after the formation 
of the Purkinjean vesicle is the appearance of 
minute dots near the wall at the side opposite the 
vesicle. These increase in number and size, but 
remain always on that half of the yolk, leaving 
the other half of the globe clear. One can hardly 
conceive the beauty of the egg as seen through 
the microscope at this period of its growth, when 
the whole yolk is divided, with the dark granules 
on one side; while the other side, where the 
transparent halo of the vesicle is seen, is brilliant 
with light. With the growth of the egg these 
granules enlarge, become more distinct, and un- 
der the microscope some of them appear to be 
hollow. They are not round in form, but rather 
