Amniotic contraction and embryonic motility in the chick embryo.

During part of the incubation period of chick embryos the amnion shows spontaneous contractions. Removal of the amnion on days 9, 10, and 11 has no effect on the amount of, or the cyclic aspects of, motility exhibited by the embryo. These observations question the importance of the amnion and yolk-sac as stimulative factors in the initiation and maintenance of cyclic embryonic motility at the ages studied.