2O J- E. WODSEDALEK. 



before the network broke up and still there are indications of 

 pairing. Cells of this nature in which a great deal of fusion had 

 apparently taken place, invariably show more or less pronounced 

 indications of decay, and the question arises as to whether this 

 unusual amount of fusion is due to the condition of decay or 

 whether the degeneration sets in because of the unusual amount 

 of fusion. It appears, however, that the great amount of fusion 

 is caused by the existing degenerate condition of the cell in 

 general, for invariably masses of chromatin material bearing no 

 resemblance to normal chromosomes or threads are present in 

 these cells. Fig. 12 shows a still further advanced stage, in 

 which conjugation continues. 



There is no regularity in the amount of fusion that takes place 

 in the various cells. In some cells many more chromosomes 

 conjugate than in others. This fact was apparent during the 

 various stages of the comparatively long synaptic period, and 

 became more obvious when numerous accurate counts of chro- 

 mosomes were made in cells in which all indications of pairing 

 had ceased. The fact that the nucleus expands enormously 

 during the "spireme stage" was a great aid in making many 

 accurate counts. The chromosomes, as a rule, were well segre- 

 gated with only partial overlapping. Here and there were tubules 

 with cells in exceptionally good condition for this particular in- 

 vestigation, thus rendering possible many definite counts. The 

 number of chromosomes in the different cells at this stage vary 

 considerably. The smallest number found was thirty-four and 

 the largest was forty-nine. This seems to indicate without a 

 doubt that in the few cases where only thirty-four chromosomes 

 could be counted that thirty-two of the fifty-one univalent 

 autosomes had fused. In the few cases where as many as forty- 

 nine counts were made it appears equally as certain that only 

 four of the fifty-one chromosomes had fused. It must be re- 

 membered, however, that these two extreme counts were ob- 

 tained in only a very few cases and stand out as exceptions. All 

 other counts between thirty-four and forty-nine were obtained, 

 but by far the greater majority of counts lie between forty and 

 forty-five, with a fairly good number of thirty-eight and forty-six. 



A very interesting as well as important feature about the 



