The spindles seen in oöcytes in follicles undergoing atresia folliculi are maturation spindles, more or less abnormal, and not cleavage spindles.By the splitting off of the achromatic fibers and the consequent breaking down of these spindles the chromosomes are scattered through the cytoplasm of the oöcyte and form a number of nuclei.The nucleo-cytoplasmic relationship, disturbed by the degenerative changes in follicle and egg-cell, causes the oöcyte to break up into fragments, some with one or more nuclei and some with none. These fragments are gradually absorbed, probably through the action of phagocytic cells of follicular origin, and disappear.The process is one of degenerative fragmentation and not parthenogenetic cleavage.