Xo.oOl] 



THE NINE-BAXDED A 1UI A DILU) 



523 



morphological peculiarity of the germ cells. In brief the 

 egg is a simple egg with one nucleus and is fertilized by a 

 single spermatozoon. Hence the embryo starts out as a 

 single and not as a multiple individual. 



The claim of Rosner ('01), based on an examination 

 of one pair of ovaries inadequately preserved, that the 

 four embryos are the result of the fusion of several 

 follicles and the subsequent fusion of the several eggs 

 or vesicles given off by the rupture of a compound 

 follicle, is completely refuted by the present studies. It 

 may be of interest to show how Eosner came to fall into 

 so serious an error. The writer after the examination 

 of a large number of normal ovaries chanced upon one 

 pair showing substantially the conditions described by 

 Rosner. These ovaries were from a very large, old 

 female and when examined cytologically showed many 

 multiple follicles, containing from two to eight or more 

 ovocytes in various stages of development. Everything 

 about these ovaries, however, is atypical and there can be 

 no doubt as to their pathological character. That Rosner 

 should by chance have stumbled upon such an ovary and 

 that he drew a general conclusion as to the normal con- 



