The rapidity with which any part of an ovum segments varies ceteris paribus with the relative amount of protoplasm it contains; and the size of the segments formed varies inversely to the relative amount of protoplasm. When the proportion of protoplasm in any part of an ovum becomes extremely small, segmentation does not occur in that part.
Ova with food-yolk may be divided into two great groups according to the eventual arrangement of the food-yolk in the protoplasm. In one of these, the food-yolk when present is concentrated at the vegetative pole of the ovum. In the other group it is concentrated at the centre of the ovum. Ova belonging to the former group are known as telolecithal ova, those to the latter as centrolecithal.
In each group more than one type may be distinguished. In the first group these types are (1) unequal segmentation, (2) partial segmentation. The features of these three types have been already so fully explained that I need not repeat them here.
In the second group there are three distinct types, (1) equal segmentation, (2) unequal segmentation. These two being externally similar to the similarly named types in the first group. (3) Superficial segmentation. This is unlike anything which is present in the first group, and is characterized by the appearance of a superficial layer of cells round a central yolk mass. These cells may either appear simultaneously or successively, and their nuclei are derived from the segmentation within the ovum of the first segmentation nucleus.
The types of ova in relation to the characters of the segmentation may be tabulated in the following way:
Segmentation.
(1) alecithal ova
regular
(2) telolecithal ova
(a) unequal