Page:Anatomy of the Human Body (1918).djvu/46

46 the two cells are succeeded by four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on, with the result that a mass of cells is found within the zona striata, and to this mass the term morula is applied (Fig. 9). The segmentation of the mammalian ovum may not take place in the regular sequence of two, four, eight, etc., since one of the two first formed cells may subdivide more rapidly than the other, giving rise to a three-or a five-cell stage. The cells of the morula are at first closely aggregated, but soon they become arranged into an outer or peripheral layer, the trophoblast, which

Fig. 10.—Blastodermic vesicle of Vespertilio miirinus. (After van Beneden.

Fig. 11.—Section through embryonic disk of Vespertilio murinus. (After van Beneden.)

Fig. 12.—Section through embryonic area of Vespertilio murinus to show the formation of the amniotic cavity. (After van Beneden,)

does not contribute to the formation of the embryo proper, and an inner cell-mass, from which the embryo is developed. Fluid collects between the trophoblast and the greater part of the inner cell-mass, and thus the morula is converted into a vesicle, the blastodermic vesicle (Fig. 10). The inner cell-mass remains in contact, however, with the trophoblast at one pole of the ovum; this is named the embryonic pole, since it indicates the situation where the future embryo will be developed. The cells of the trophoblast become differentiated into two strata: an