The alligator and its allies

by A. M. Reese

[Figure 6i] is five sections posterior to the preceding and has about the same structure as the corresponding sections in the preceding two stages, where this region of the embryo was injured, and hence not drawn. Continuous with the posterior border of the blastopore (seen in the preceding figure) is the deep furrow, the primitive groove (pg). The ectoblast (ec) bordering this groove is much thickened and may be called the primitive streak. The lower side of this primitive streak is continuous with the mesoblast (mes), while the entoderm (en) is here entirely distinct from the mesoderm. It is evident that the mesoderm posterior to the blastopore is proliferated from the lower side of the ectoblast and not from the upper side of the entoblast, as is the case anterior to the blastopore. The primitive groove gradually becomes more and more shallow, as it is followed toward the posterior, until it is no longer discernible; back of this point the primitive streak may be traced for a considerable distance, becoming thinner and thinner until it too disappears, and there remains only the slightly thickened ectoblast underlaid by the thin and irregular layers of mesoblast and entoblast. The primitive streak may be traced for a distance equal to about one third the distance between the head-fold and the blastopore.

STAGE IV

Figures 7a-7h ([Plates XI.], [XII.])

No surface view of this stage was seen by the writer, and hence is not figured. The figures were drawn from one of the series of sections obtained through the courtesy of Prof. S. F. Clarke. This series was marked “3 Urwirbeln,” so that the embryo was apparently slightly younger than the youngest stage obtained by myself and represented in [Figures 8 and 8a].

[Figure 7a] represents a section that passed through the head-fold of the amnion (a) just in front of the head-fold of the embryo; the amniotic cavity here appears as a large empty space.

[Figure 7b] is several sections posterior to the preceding; it passes through the head-fold of the embryo, but is just back of the head-fold of the amnion. The deep depression of the ectoderm (ec) and entoderm (en) caused by the head-fold is plainly seen. In this depression lie the ends of the medullary folds, distinct from each other both dorsally and ventrally. Each medullary fold is made up of two parts—a medial, more dense nervous layer (nl), and a distal, less dense epidermal layer (ep). The section corresponding to this one will be more fully described in connection with the following stage.

[Figure 7c] is some distance posterior to the preceding, though the exact distance could not be determined because of a break in the series at this point. The section passes through the posterior limit of the head-fold. The medullary groove (mg) is very deep and comparatively wide; around its sides the germ layers are so closely associated that they may scarcely be distinguished. Ventral to the medullary groove the foregut (fg) is seen as a crescentic slit.

[Figure 7d] is about a dozen sections posterior to the one just described and is about one seventh the length of the embryo from the anterior end. The embryo is much more compressed, in a dorso-ventral direction, and the medullary groove (mg) is correspondingly more shallow. Where the ectoderm (ec) curves over to form the medullary folds it becomes much more compact and somewhat thicker. The notochord (nt) is large and distinct, but is still fused with the entoderm (en). The mesoderm (mes) forms a well-defined layer, entirely distinct from both the notochord and the entoderm. From this region, as we pass caudad, the size of the embryo in cross-section gradually decreases and the medullary groove becomes more shallow.

[Figure 7e] is about one third of the length of the embryo from the posterior end, and is only a few sections from the caudal end of the medullary groove. The ectoderm (ec) is much thinner than in the preceding figure and the medullary groove (mg) is much more shallow. The notochord (nt) is of about the same diameter as before, but is here quite distinct from the entoderm (en) as well as from the mesoderm (mes).

[Figure 7f] is seven sections posterior to [Figure 7e]. The medullary groove has disappeared and the medullary folds have flattened to form what might be called a medullary plate (at the end of the reference line ec), which continues to the anterior border of the blastopore. The notochord (nt) is larger in cross-section than in the more anterior regions; it is still distinct from the entoderm.