ELEMENTS OF MICROBIAL CYTOLOGY 35 



zation. But this change is succeeded immediately in protozoa by a 

 common process called chromatic reduction. The chromosomes 

 in the course of the divisions which precede the formation of the 

 gametes reduce themselves to half by a complex process which it 

 would be superfluous to describe here. The same chromatic reduction 

 takes place in the fungi and algse, but this does not always precede 

 fertilization. It may follow it immediately as in the yeasts where it 

 seems to produce itself during the nuclear divisions in the ascus. It 

 may also occur during other stages of development. 



