Note 262 — ON PARASITES IN GENERAL. (continued 6)

[Recent work (e.g., Goldschmidt, Zool. Anzeiger, xxxiv, p. 482) has shown that the older views regarding the formation of the egg must be modified. In certain species, at any rate, the shell material is formed by the yellow droplets of the yolk glands and not by the so-called shell gland (Mehli’s gland) secretion, which is clear and watery. The function of this secretion accordingly still requires explanation; according to Looss it serves as a covering secretion for the egg-shell proper. It appears also that other granules, the yolk granules as distinct from the shell drop granules, are not always used up during the development of the embryo and hence do not function as yolk, so these also when they exist, and frequently they are wanting, must serve some other purpose, possibly that of imbibing water for the use of the embryo.—J. W. W. S.]