CYTOPLASMIC STRUCTURES IN THE SEMINAL EPITHELIUM OF THE OPOSSUM. 77 



connections was to be taken into consideration. Since that time three interesting 

 papers have appeared which deal with this question. Two of them, one by Deineka 

 (1914), the other by Rina Monti (1915), favor the identity of the chondriosomes 

 and the apparatus, while Ramon y Cajal (1914) takes the opposite stand. 



Deineka's conclusions are based upon his study of the connective tissue during 

 the process of ossification. The method used was that of Golgi, with acidum 

 arseniosum, but the duration of the fixation was reduced to about 30 minutes, instead 

 of 6 to 7 hours. In the osteogenous tissue this method impregnates, besides a num- 

 ber of granules and filaments which are obviously chondriosomes, some thicker 

 filaments localized at one pole of the nucleus. These correspond to the apparatus, 

 but for Deineka they are of the same nature as chondriosomes, of which they repre- 

 sent only one part. In the osteoblasts very numerous short filaments and granules 

 are accumulated on one side of the nucleus, leaving free amid them a clear space 

 which is obviously the "sphere." In the bone-cells the image changes with the age 

 of the cell. In none of these cases could Deineka make out a difference between 

 an apparatus and the chondriosomes. 



Ramon y Cajal, who opposes Deineka's conclusions, believes (p. 158) the 

 latter's method does not impregnate the apparatus. In osteoblasts he shows it 

 (fig. 23) precisely around that clear spot ("sphere") described by Deineka. To me 

 it seems possible that the thick filaments localized at one pole of the nucleus, which 

 Deineka represents in the cells of the osteogenous tissue, and perhaps in some of 

 the bone-cells, correspond to the apparatus; while the other elements in the cells 

 of the connective tissue are undoubtedly chondriosomes. The fact, however, that 

 all these bodies are or can be impregnated at the same time, does not prove that 

 they are the same. Deineka himself (1912) has shown that under certain condi- 

 tions of fixation the apparatus alone is impregnated, while his present method 

 apparently preserved the chondriosomes better than the apparatus. 



While Deineka's standpoint can hardly be defended, Monti's opinion appears 

 to me worthy of consideration. This author has studied the nerve-cells of inverte- 

 brates and vertebrates by means of the chondriosomal and silver methods. In her 

 opinion the chondriosomes of the adult neurone and Golgi's apparatus are one and 

 the same thing. The differences between the two sets of preparations are due to 

 the following causes: First, that the latter is a method of impregnation, while the 

 former consists of a progressive differentiation. Second, that in the first case thin 

 sections, in the second thick ones, are used. Monti, however, is far from admitting 

 the identity of Golgi's apparatus with the chondriosomes in all cases. In young 

 nerve-cells she finds two reticula; a large one extending all over the cell-body and a 

 small one localized at one pole of the nucleus. The former is the same as one finds 

 in the adult cell and is formed by the chondriosomes; it is similar to the reticulum 

 described first by Pensa, in cartilage cells, which is also formed by chondriosomes; 1 

 the other is identical with the small reticulum described by von Bergen in the 



"That the apparatus first described by Pensa (1901) corresponds to the chondriosomes can not be doubted; but I do 

 not believe that the chondriosomes of these cells form a reticulum (see Duesberg, 1914, p. 23), even if it may appear so after 

 the silver impregnation. 



