Yolk.The yolk comprises (1) the cytoplasm of the ordinary animal cell
with its spongioplasm and hyaloplasm; this is frequently termed the
formative yolk; (2) the nutritive yolk or deutoplasm, which consists of
numerous rounded granules of fatty and albuminoid substances imbedded in
the cytoplasm. In the mammalian ovum the nutritive yolk is extremely small
in amount, and is of service in nourishing the embryo in the early stages of
its development only, whereas in the egg of the bird there is sufficient to
supply the chick with nutriment throughout the whole period of incubation.
The nutritive yolk not only varies in amount, but in its mode of distribution
within the egg; thus, in some animals it is almost uniformly distributed
FIG. 4 Formation