Bonnet affirms that, before fecundation, the hen's egg contains an excessively minute but complete chick; and that fecundation and incubation simply cause this germ to absorb nutritious matters, which are deposited in the interstices of the elementary structures of which the miniature chick, or germ, is made up.
This arrangement facilitates the internal fecundation of the female without copulation, the female absorbs the spermatozoa by squeezing them out of the spermatophore between the cloacal lips.
Other newts, and many salamanders, whether terrestrial or aquatic, pair, the male embracing the female about the fore limbs or in the pelvic region, and the males of such forms are invariably devoid of ornamental secondary sexual characters; but in spite of this amplexation the same mode of fecundation by means of a spermatophore is resorted to, although it may happen that the contents of the spermatophore are absorbed direct from the cloaca of the male.
Fecundation would under such conditions be impossible, and without this the eggs of a resultant queen will produce nothing but drones.