The works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 2 (of 4) : $b A treatise on comparative embryology: InvertebrataBalfour, Francis M. (Francis Maitland)
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The works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 2 (of 4) : $b A treatise on comparative embryology: Invertebrata
Balfour, Francis M. (Francis Maitland)
Embryology; Zoology
primitively unpaired caudal part of the body cavity in the same way.
[FIG. 165. TWO VIEWS OF A LATE EMBRYO OF SAGITTA. A. from the dorsal
surface. B. from the side. (After Bütschli.)
_m._ mouth; _al._ alimentary canal; _v.g._ ventral ganglion
(thickening of epiblast); _ep._ epiblast; _c.pv._ cephalic section
of body cavity; _so._ somatopleure; _sp._ splanchnopleure; _ge._
generative organs.]
From the somatic mesoblast of the trunk is derived the single layer of
longitudinal muscles of Sagitta, and part of the epithelioid lining of
the body cavity. The anterior termination of the trunk division of the
body cavity is marked in the adult by the mesentery dividing into two
laminæ, which bend outwards to join the body wall.
The cephalic section of the body cavity seems to atrophy, and its
walls to become converted into the complicated system of muscles
present in the head of the adult Sagitta.
In the presence of a section of the body cavity in the head the embryo
of Sagitta resembles Lumbricus, Spiders, etc.
The generative rudiment of each side divides into an anterior and a
posterior part (fig. 165, _ge_). The former constitutes the ovary, and
is situated in front of the septum dividing the tail from the body;
and the latter, in the caudal region of the trunk, forms the testis.
The nervous system originates from the epiblast. There is a ventral
thickening (fig. 165 B, _v.g_) in the anterior region of the trunk,
and a dorsal one in the head. The two are at first continuous, and on
becoming separated from the epiblast remain united by thin cords.
The ventral ganglion is far more prominent during embryonic life than
in the adult. Its position and early prominence in the embryo perhaps
indicate that it is the homologue of the ventral cord of
Chætopoda[152].
[152] Langerhans has recently made some important investigations
on the nervous system of Sagitta, and identifies the ventral
ganglion with the parieto-splanchnio ganglia of Molluscs, while
he has found a pair of new ganglia, the development of which is
unknown, which he calls the suboesophageal or pedal ganglia. The
embryological facts do not appear to be in favour of these
interpretations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
(376) O. Bütschli. "Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Sagitta."
_Zeitschrift f. wiss. Zool._, Vol. XXIII. 1873.
(377) C. Gegenbaur. "Über die Entwicklung der Sagitta." _Abhand. d.
naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Halle_, 1857.
(378) A. Kowalevsky. "Embryologische Studien an Würmern u.
Arthropoden." _Mém. Acad. Pétersbourg_, VII. sér., Tom. XVI., No. 12.
1871.
MYZOSTOMEA.
The development of these peculiar parasites on Crinoids has been
investigated by Metschnikoff (No. 380), Semper (No. 381), and Graff
(No. 379).
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