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Albumen gland.

The albumen gland is a compound tubular gland, the walls of the tubules being composed of large apocrine gland cells with basal nuclei. These cells contain numerous large ovoid granules, which stain a pale violet colour in haematoxylin/eosin preparations. Scattered granules stain positively with PAS (Fig. 8). A thin layer of squamous epithelium lines the tubules, which are bound together by thin sheets of connective tissue. The tubules of the albumen gland empty their transparent, nutritive secretion into the albumen canal which runs the length of the gland, and is also thinly lined with squamous epithelium. The albumen canal joins the hermaphrodite duct to form a thick-walled chamber, the fertilisation pocket (Fig. 9).