150 



Part III. — Sixteenth Annual Report 



Ovarian Fluids. 



Sp. Gr. 



Reaction. 



Chlorides. 



Albumin. 



Turbot (Unripe), . 



1-020 



Slightlyacid. 







Haddock (Ripe), . 



1015 



Neutral. 



•846 gms. % 





Plaice (Ripe), 



1-0016 





•766 „ 



-838 gms. 



Cod (Ripe), . 



1017 



» 



•492 „ 



1-312 „ 



Whiting, 



1-015 





-630 „ 





Flounder, 



1020 





-552 „ 





Ling, . 



1-014 









In all cases, a body is precipitated by adding acetic acid carefully 

 to the fluid. This precipitated body contains phosphorus, but does not 

 furnish nuclein bases. It gives the ordinary proteid reactions. 



In many respects it is similar to the vitellins present in the yolk^ 

 and is a probable forerunner of them. 



The interstitial mucoid-like tissue in which the eggs of Lophius are 

 embedded requires separate treatment. The specific gravity of this 

 substance, with the eggs embedded in it, was 1*005, while the ripe ova 

 alone had a specific gravity of 1*030 to 1*035. Both the mucoid-like 

 tissue and the vitelline fluid of the ova react acid, the acidity of the two 

 being almost identical in amount. I was never able to obtain from the 

 organic phosphorus-holding body present in the ovarian fluids a CuO' 

 reducing substance, nor from the gelatinous-like interstitial substance in 

 the roe of Lophius. 



In the ripe Lopliius roe 20-22 per cent, of the total weight is due to 

 the ova, and the rest to the mucoid-like tissue. 



Chlorides are present in this substance, but, so far as I could make 

 out, no body similar to that precipitated by acetic acid in the other 

 ovarian fluids. Unlike most mucoid tissues, no cupric oxide reducing 

 body is obtained by boiling this substance in dilute acids for long periods. 

 The water percentage is higher than that of the ova, viz., 84 "74 per cent., 

 while the ova only contained 68-70 per cent. 



I should like, in conclusion, to say a few words on the role of the 

 phosphorus in maturation. 



The Role of the Phosphorus in Maturation of Ova. 



The most important organic constituents present in the ovum are those 

 which contain phosphorus. The yolk contains vitellins or forerunners of 

 the vitellins, and those are substances which contain in their molecule 

 an organic phosphorus-holding radicle^ — paranuclein. These are, without 

 doubt, concerned in the formation of the so-called chromatin of the 

 histologist. I have examined and analysed these vitellins in a number 

 of ova, e.g.^ in the ova of the salmon, skate, shark, plaice, etc. I have 

 referred to the chemical nature of these vitellins earlier in the paper. 



If, then, these bodies be closely allied to the true nucleins of the 

 vitally active cells, it is exceedingly important to find out how they are 

 formed. Are they synthetically formed in the ovum, or are they selected 

 ready formed from the ovarian fluid by the granular cells ? 



In one of Miescher's letters, published in his Gesammelte Ahhand- 

 lungen, there is the statement that in the ripe ovum the phosphorus is 

 practically all organically formed. I have estimated the organic and 

 inorganic phosphorus in the unripe and ripe haddock ova, and find, as I 



