When we apply to man this law of the ontogenetic connection of related forms, and run rapidly over the earliest stages of human development with an eye to it, we notice first of all the structural identity of the ovum in man and the other mammals at the very beginning (Figs. 1, 14). The human ovum possesses all the distinctive features of the ovum of the viviparous mammals, especially the characteristic formation of its membrane (_zona pellucida_), which clearly distinguishes it from the ovum of all other animals. When the human fœtus has attained the age of fourteen days, it forms a round vesicle (or “embryonic vesicle”) about a quarter of an inch in diameter. A thicker part of its border forms a simple sole-shaped embryonic shield one-twelfth of an inch long (Fig. 133). On its dorsal side we find in the middle line the straight medullary furrow, bordered by the two parallel dorsal or medullary swellings. Behind, it passes by the neurenteric canal into the primitive gut or primitive groove. From this the folding of the two cœlom-pouches proceeds in the same way as in the other mammals (cf. Fig. 96, 97). In the middle of the sole-shaped embryonic shield the first primitive segments immediately begin to make their appearance. At this age the human embryo cannot be distinguished from that of other mammals, such as the hare or dog. A week later (or after the twenty-first day) the human embryo has doubled its length; it is now about one-fifth of an inch long, and, when seen from the side, shows the characteristic bend of the back, the swelling of the head-end, the first outline of the three higher sense-organs, and the rudiments of the gill-clefts, which pierce the sides of the neck (Fig. 179, III). The allantois has grown out of the gut behind. The embryo is already entirely enclosed in the amnion, and is only connected in the middle of the belly by the vitelline duct with the embryonic vesicle, which changes into the yelk-sac. There are no extremities or limbs at this stage, no trace of arms or legs. The head-end has been strongly differentiated from the tail-end; and the first outlines of the cerebral vesicles in front, and the heart below, under the fore-arm, are already more or less clearly seen. There is as yet no real face. Moreover, we seek in vain at this stage a special character that may distinguish the human embryo from that of other mammals.