Nuclear area and orientation in the subventricular and intermediate zones was studied quantitatively in coronal vs. sagittal sections of the dorsomedial neocortex. Nissl-stained methacrylate-embedded normal rat embryos were studied between embryonic days (E) 13 and E22. The area of nuclear profiles and the degrees their long axes (defined as a straight line through the two most distant points in the nuclear profile) deviated from the horizontal (defined as parallel to the pial membrane) were determined with a computer-graphics program. Because the nucleus is the most clearly outlined structure in embryonic cells, the area and orientation of the nucleus was taken to reflect the overall size and orientation of the cell body. Nuclear area is larger in the coronal plane than it is in the sagittal plane, especially between E17 and E20. Cell body orientation in the subventricular and lower intermediate zones is predominantly horizontal in the coronal plane and predominantly vertical in the sagittal plane. In the upper intermediate zone, cell body orientation is predominantly vertical in both planes, but more so in the sagittal plane. These data indicate that the majority of cell bodies in the subventricular and lower intermediate zones have a horizontally oriented, flattened elliptical shape with their larger diameters lying within the coronal plane and their smaller diameters in the sagittal plane. Because of the flattening, the cell bodies falsely appear to be vertically oriented in the sagittal plane. Qualitative observations in horizontal sections confirmed the quantitative computer analysis. These results are related to other findings with [3H]thymidine autoradiography concerning cell migration and the sojourn of cells in the subventricular and intermediate zones.