COMPLETE DISCHARGE OF MITOCHONDRIA FROM 

 THE SPERMATOZOON OF PERIPATUS. 1 



THOMAS H. MONTGOMERY, JR., 

 I'sivKKMTY OF PENNSYLVANIA, PHILADELPHIA. 



The follotting account presents the unique case of a spermato- 

 x"",n that loses all its mitochondria with the abstriction of the 

 cytoplasm. 



In my paper ('oo) on tin- -pfMiiain-i-nr-i- of Periputns hulfonri 

 tin- history of the germinal cycle \\a- de-scribed from tin- sperma- 

 tOgonia through tin- m.ii ur.it ion division-, and that is now com- 

 pleted by a description of tin- -permio^ene-i-. In that account 

 (criain di-t in< t j\ , bodies uerc figured and di-cu cd under the 

 n. inn- !' "\olk -pin-rules." Tin -e were in>ird to occur only 

 spar-fly in the spe rmatogonia. Inn to become almndant during 

 tin- Drouth period of tin- -pf rmatoc\ !<-, and in all mito>fS to 

 lie mil-idf of tin- -pindlr-. Similar hodic- \\cn- -ct-n in tin- 

 sln-ath ce|]> of tin- tCStlS, and I .included the-e 1.1 l.e nni-e cells, 

 flaln-rat.irs of the suppc^-d \lk spin-rule^, and that the sprrma- 

 toi;onia received tln-ir "\.-lk -phfruK-s" from ihe-e nnr-e celN. 

 .\i the time wln-n that paper \\a- -ent to press I'l.-nda had not 

 \et puMi-hed hi- term mitochondria, and in coiiformit\- \\ith 

 the rc-nlt- of other in\e-.ii-at.ir- .f that dav I -ti|>p.i-ed true 

 y.ilk to I if lurnifd \\iihin -pc rmal< ( \ t>--. 



\.i\\ I amalile n > dem. HIM rate that the lux lie-, in <|iie-tion an- 

 not >.>lk xpln-rnle-. rather chemically quite different from these, 

 luit are mitochondria according to their l>eha\ir and -laining 

 reaction-. Indeed, it \\'ill |)rolial>l\ 1 u- found that nio-t bodies 

 (K-scriln-d as \olk spherules in sperm. iioc\ te- are re.ill\- mito- 

 i-hoinlria. My early account was therefore one of tin- tir-t to 

 de-crilie mitochondria through successive cell generations of 

 spermaio^cin-sis. But that account \\.i- wrong in its inference 

 that those of the germ cells proper an- derived from those of the 

 nurse cells; on the contrary, they occur independently in the 



'.Vi'/c- l>y tin- Editor. Professor Montgomery died \vhili- this papt-r was in press. 

 Hi- h.i.l tln-r-t.iri- no opportunity to make any changes in the proof, and the paper 

 i- printed exactly as the manuscript left his hands. 



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