Autonomy of the Plasmatic Membrane 133 



originate as a continuation of the old membrane. Accord- 

 ing to Klebs's^* descriptions the Euglenidae also offer a 

 beautiful example of panmeristic cell-division. 



It is very unlikely that in the case of such a funda- 

 mental process, the higher plants should behave differ- 

 ently from the lower ones. That there are differences in 

 minor points is self evident, and everybody knows that 

 there are important distinctions, especially in the relative 

 duration of the individual steps in the process. And the 

 same holds for the manner in which it is provided that 

 every daughter-cell gets its own nucleus. But, that the 

 completion of the plasmatic membrane should take place 

 through the insertion of a quite newly formed piece is so 

 much at variance with the rest of our knowledge, that 

 one cannot by any means accept it on the basis of the 

 older investigations. At any rate it must be held in doubt 

 until supported by direct observation. 



Such, however, is not the case at present, as I shall 

 try to show in the last Chapter of this Section. On the 

 contrary many facts already speak in favor of the com- 

 plete autonomy of the membrane, although not with suf- 

 ficient certainty to serve as conclusive proof. 



However that may be, whether the limiting membrane 

 can develop from the granular plasm, or whether both 

 are mutually autonomous, it is certain, at any rate, that 

 on the one hand these two, and on the other the nucleus, 

 the trophoplasts, and the vacuoles are independent organs, 

 which, in the normal course of things, multiply only by 

 division. 



Hence, the organization of the protoplasts is hered- 

 itary, and this not in the sense that the organization of the 

 higher organisms is reproduced in each individual through 



i^Klebs, G. Arbeiten Bot. Institut. Tubingen. 1: 282. 



