THE origin of the germ-cells has been extensively investigated in both invertebrates and vertebrates. In invertebrates it has been traced to the early cleavage of the zygote, e.g. in such forms as Ascaris megalocephala (Boveri, 1887) and Sciara (Metz, 1938). Within the vertebrate group the cases in which primordial germ-cells have been detected in cleavage stages are very few. Eigenmann (1891) ...