GERM CELLS IN NEMATODES, SAGITTA 187 



Buchner (1912) indicates that these bodies are really 

 organisms which seem to be symbiotic and not para- 

 sitic, although it remains to be proved what advan- 

 tage the host receives from their presence. Of a 

 similar sort are the Zooxanthellae which Mangan 

 (1909) has shown enter the developing ovum from 

 the parental tissues. All of these organisms become 

 in some way embedded in the germ cells, but so far 

 as we know never serve to distinguish the keimbahn, 

 although a more selective distribution within the 

 developing animal would obviously be greatly to 

 their advantage. 



Vander Stricht (1911) has compared the "beson- 

 dere Korper" found by Elpatiewsky (1909, 1910) 

 in the egg of Sagitta with several bodies, the "corps 

 enigmatique," which he discovered in the oocyte of 

 the cat (Fig. 55, E). One or two of these "corps 

 enigmatique" are present in the young oocyte 

 originating from a few (one to five) cytoplasmic 

 safranophile granules which are visible at the begin- 

 ning of the growth period. They at first lie near the 

 nucleus, but as the size of the oocyte increases they 

 become situated near the periphery. Usually three 

 parts can be recognized in the "corps enigmatique" : 

 "granulation centrole, couche intermediaire et couche 

 corticale foncee." As the term applied to them indi- 

 cates, the functions of these bodies were not deter- 

 mined. The following suggestion is, however, made : 

 "il est possible que cet element nous montre, des 

 1'origine, la 'Keimbahn' ainsi que les premieres 

 cellules genitales constitutes." A body stained 



