78 J. DUESBERG. 



every time one has to deal with atypical forms of spermatozoa 

 as a preliminary to the study of fertilization. 



The chondriosomes being a constant constituent of the sper- 

 matozoon, have we any clue as to their significance? Opinions 

 differ on this point. Benda is responsible for a hypothesis ac- 

 cording to which the chondriosomes are in some way connected 

 with the property of motility. This hypothesis reappears occa- 

 sionally, and in my opinion very unfortunately, since it is not 

 supported by anything and is contradicted by a number of facts. 

 Of course, one can well imagine how such an idea might be sug- 

 gested by the appearance of the spiral filament of certain sper- 

 matozoa, just as a rather nai've theory of muscular contraction 

 was once built upon the conception that the myofibrils were 

 shaped like a spring. But I fail utterly to see how other forms 

 of the chondriosomal sheath, such as the small granules existing 

 in so many lower vertebrates and in many invertebrates, could 

 suggest in any way a relation with the motility of the sperma- 

 tozoon. Furthermore, Benda's hypothesis is in contradiction 

 to Meves's experiments of merotomy on spermatozoa and to the 

 presence of chondriosomes in those spermatozoa that make no 

 active movements, such as the spermatozoa of decapods. The 

 same facts disagree also with the idea expressed by Regaud, for 

 whom "le chondriome du sperrhatozoide est moins un materiel 

 hereditaire qu'une partie de la cellule jouant un role actuel de 

 fixation et de concentration des substances ambiantes destinees 

 a etre consommees lors de la contraction du filament axile." 



Another opinion was expressed by Koltzoff. This author 

 considers the chondriosomes as playing the role " einer formbilden- 

 den Substanz." While this is apparently true for certain sper- 

 matozoa he studied, for decapods for instance, I would deny 

 that Koltzoff's interpretation has any general value. On 

 physical grounds it would seem impossible that bodies which 

 are entirely enclosed in a cell, without coming in contact with 

 its surface, could have anything to do with the form of that cell. 

 To return to the type of spermatozoon so common among lower 

 vertebrates and invertebrates, is it possible to imagine that these 

 granules have anything to do with determining the form of the 

 spermatozoon? The answer can only be a negative one. 



