MITOCHONDRIA AND OTHER CYTOPLASMIC 



STRUCTURES IN THE SPERMATOGENESIS 



OF PASSALUS CORNUTUS. 



E. L. SHAFFER, 

 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY. 



A. INTRODUCTION. 



In course of my study on the spermatogenesis of Passalus 

 cornutus (one of the Lacunid beetles), the mitochondria and 

 other cytoplasmic inclusions came to my attention. Although 

 I was primarily interested in the study of the nuclear changes 

 with especial reference to synapsis, it seemed desirable to make 

 a study of the cytoplasmic structures above mentioned, since 

 they showed so clearly in my preparations. I shall therefore 

 reserve for a later report a description of the nuclear changes 

 involved in the course of spermatogenesis. 



I am glad to acknowledge my indebtedness to Prof. E. G. 

 Conklin, of Princeton University,^ under whose guidance and 

 criticism this work has been pursued. I also wish to thank 

 Mr. Milton P. Hunter, of Westtown, Pa., from whom I received 

 the material used in this study. 



B. MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE. 



There are two pairs of more or less bulb-shaped testes situated 

 in the posterior part of the abdomen. These were dissected out in 

 Ringer's solution and immediately fixed in one of the following 

 fixation fluids: Hermann's, Flemming's strong solution, and 

 Benda's modification of Flemming's fluid. Iron hcematoxylin 

 followed by either Lichtgriin, erythrosin or Bordeaux red was 

 the stain most used, especially when the fixations were with 

 Hermann's or Flemming's fluids. The Benda crystal violet- 

 alizarin staining method was employed on the material fixed in 

 the Benda fluid. On the whole, material fixed in strong Flem- 

 ming's fluid (three or four hours) and then stained in iron haema- 

 toxylin followed by one of the counterstains previously men- 



407 



