214 R - w - GLASER. 



are continually being filled. Finally they are completely filled 

 and are made entirely useless for further activity. It may be 

 that the inability of the cenocytes for further work brings about 

 a disturbance of the regular metabolism, and is hence one of the 

 causes of the sinking life activity of the insect." It seems as if 

 Koschevnikov must have confused the cenocytes with phago- 

 cytes; at any rate he did not study the cenocytes. Janet ('07) 

 regards the cenocytes as real unicellular glands. "Like these 

 they take from the blood elements for their functional activity. 

 The substance resulting from this activity they give up by 

 osmosis to the adipocytes which use it possibly for the elabora- 

 tion or dissolution of reserves, possibly for the production of a 

 special reserve substance." Verson ('n) found at times at the 

 periphery of the cells microscopical exudations of a particular 

 excretion which was accompanied by changes in the form and size 

 of the nucleus. Gee ('n) injected specimens of Platyphylax 

 designatus larvae with methylene blue, and found that imme- 

 diately after injection the cenocytes and spinning glands both 

 took the stain, the cenocytes less than the spinning glands. 

 'The Malpighian tubules, except in one case, did not take the 

 stain. In larvae killed half an hour after injection the cenocytes 

 were more deeply stained, but no coloration was observed in the 

 Malpighian tubules. Larvae killed one hour after injection 

 showed that the Malpighian tubes had begun to take up the 

 blue color, but that the cenocytes and spinning glands were 

 becoming less intense, in coloration." He reached the conclusion 

 that the similar reaction of cenocytes and spinning glands 

 towards methylene blue seems to show that the cenocytes are 

 secretory rather than excretory, the spinning glands being 

 secretory. 'The nature of their secretion is difficult and prac- 

 tically impossible to determine. Can it be that their function 

 is the secretion of a substance or enzyme which is of aid to the 

 fat-body in its constructive work?" 



It will be seen from this short review that there are many and 

 diverse opinions as to the function of the cenocytes. On re- 

 viewing the literature on the morphology of these cells, the 

 divergence of views is seen to be still greater, no two people 

 agreeing in more than a few points. The insects used by the 



