The works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 (of 4) : $b Separate memoirsBalfour, Francis M. (Francis Maitland)
Science
The works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 (of 4) : $b Separate memoirs
Balfour, Francis M. (Francis Maitland)
Embryology; Zoology
In the next stage for the Elasmobranch, fig. 1 and 2 _B_ and Pl. 7, fig. 7,
and for the Amphibian, fig. 3, _B_, the agreement between the two types is
again very close. In both for a small portion (_x_) of the edge of the
blastoderm the epiblast and hypoblast become continuous, while at all other
parts the epiblast, accompanied by lower layer cells, grows round the yolk
or round the large cells which correspond to it. The yolk cells of the
Amphibian ovum form a comparatively small mass, and are therefore rapidly
enveloped; while in the case of the Elasmobranch ovum, owing to the greater
mass of the yolk, the same process occupies a long period. In both ova the
portion of the blastoderm, where epiblast and hypoblast become continuous,
forms the dorsal lip of an opening--the anus of Rusconi--which leads into
the alimentary cavity. This cavity has the same relation in both ova. It is
lined dorsally by lower layer cells, and ventrally by yolk or what
corresponds with yolk; the ventral epithelium of the alimentary canal being
in both cases eventually supplied by the yolk cells.
As in the earlier stage, so in the present one, the anatomical relations of
the yolk to the blastoderm in the one case (Elasmobranch) are nearly
identical with those of the yolk cells to the blastoderm in the other
(Amphibian). The main features in which the two embryos differ, during the
stage under consideration, arise from the same cause as the solitary point
of difference during the preceding stage.
In Amphibians, the alimentary cavity is formed coincidently with a true
ingrowth of cells from the point where epiblast and hypoblast become
continuous, and from this ingrowth the dorsal wall of the alimentary cavity
is formed. The same ingrowth causes the obliteration of the segmentation
cavity.
In the Elasmobranchii, owing to the larger bulk of the lower layer cells
caused by the food-yolk, these have been compelled to arrange themselves in
their final position during segmentation, and no room is left for a true
invagination; but instead of this there is formed a simple split between
the blastoderm and the yolk. The homology of this with the primitive
invagination is nevertheless proved by the survival of a number of features
belonging to the ancestral condition in which a true invagination was
present. Amongst the more important of these are the following:--(1) The
continuity of epiblast and hypoblast at the dorsal lip of the anus of
Rusconi. (2) The continuous conversion of indifferent lower layer cells
into hypoblast, which gradually extends backwards towards the segmentation
cavity, and exactly represents the course of the invagination whereby in
Amphibians the dorsal wall of the alimentary cavity is formed. (3) The
obliteration of the segmentation cavity during the period when the
pseudo-invagination is occurring.
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