Fig. 166. Two views of a human embryo of between the third and fourth week.
A. Side view. (From Kölliker; after Allen Thomson.) a. amnion; b. umbilical vesicle; c. mandibular arch; e. hyoid arch; f. commencing anterior limb; g. primitive auditory vesicle; h. eye; i. heart.
B. Dorsal view to shew the attachment of the dilated allantoic stalk to the chorion. (From a sketch by Allen Thomson.) am. amnion; all. allantois; ys. yolk-sack.
The flexure goes on gradually increasing, and in the third week of pregnancy in embryos of about 4 mm. the limbs make their appearance. The embryo at this stage ([fig. 166]), which is about equivalent to that of a chick on the fourth day, resembles in almost every respect the normal embryos of the Amniota. The cranial flexure is as pronounced as usual, and the cerebral region has now fully the normal size. The whole body soon becomes flexed ventrally, and also somewhat spirally. The yolk-sack (b) forms a small spherical appendage with a long wide stalk, and the embryo (B) is attached by an allantoic stalk with a slight swelling (all), probably indicating the presence of a small hypoblastic diverticulum, to the inner face of the chorion.
A remarkable exception to the embryos generally observed is afforded by an embryo which has been described by Krause (No. [235]). In this embryo, which probably belongs to the third week of pregnancy, the limbs were just commencing to be indicated, and the embryo was completely covered by an amnion, but instead of being attached to the chorion by an allantoic cord, it was quite free, and was provided with a small spherical sack-like allantois, very similar to that of a fourth-day chick, projected from its hind end.
Fig. 167. Figures shewing the early changes in the form of the human head. (From Quain’s Anatomy.)
A. Head of an embryo of about four weeks. (After Allen Thomson.)
B. Head of an embryo of about six weeks. (After Ecker.)
C. Head of an embryo of about nine weeks.
1. mandibular arch; 1´. persistent part of hyomandibular cleft; a. auditory vesicle.
No details are given as to the structure of the chorion or the presence of villi upon it. The presence of such an allantois at this stage in a human embryo is so unlike what is usually found that Krause’s statements have been received with considerable scepticism. His even holds that the embryo is a chick embryo, and not a human one; while Kölliker regards Krause’s allantois as a pathological structure. The significance to be attached to this embryo is dealt with below.
A detailed history of the further development of the human embryo does not fall within the province of this work; while the later changes in the embryonic membranes have already been dealt with (pp. [244]-248).