78 CYTOPLASMIC STRUCTURES IN THE SEMINAL EPITHELIUM OF THE OPOSSUM. 



cartilage cell and other similar formations and has the same behavior during mitosis. 

 It does not exist in the adult cell in which the centrosphere has disappeared and 

 the reproductive activity has ceased. 



If Monti were correct, all the difficulties concerning the existence of a relation- 

 ship between the so-called apparatus of the adult nerve-cell and the cellular centers 

 (see below) would be settled at once, as the structure that exhibits such a rela- 

 tionship the small reticulum would exist only in the young cell. At the same 

 time a revision of the nomenclature would appear necessary. Which formation 

 should we persist in calling Golgi's apparatus the small reticulum or the chon- 

 driosomes? There is no doubt that the latter, or any similar term would be pre- 

 served by the majority of authors, and we would find ourselves in the rather awk- 

 ward position of no longer being able to speak of Golgi's apparatus in the adult 

 nerve-cell, where it was first described. To be entirely logical, the term Golgi's 

 apparatus should be given up altogether, as otherwise it would perpetuate an error, 

 and some other denomination be substituted for the small reticulum whose main 

 characteristic in the resting cell is its topographical relation with the cellular centers. 

 I must state, however, that although Monti's opinion appears to me interesting, 

 I am not entirely convinced that the morphological differences between chondrio- 

 somes and reticular apparatus can be satisfactorily explained as she proposes. I 

 have in mind a number of figures published by different authors which can hardly 

 be reconciled with her opinion, including some of the figures given by Cowdry 

 (1912) and Ramon y Cajal (1914). 



One of the points emphasized in my review is the close topographical rela- 

 tionship between the apparatus and the cellular centers, a relationship to which 

 Ballowitz (1900) was the first to call attention, and whose importance can not be 

 overestimated, as it is likely to constitute an excellent criterion. For details of 

 the bibliography I refer the reader to my review, and especially to pages 37-39. 

 I would call attention, however, to certain conclusions embodied therein. 



The non-nervous cells can be divided into three groups: (1) A group in which 

 the relationship between the apparatus and centers is established; (2) a group in 

 which the same relationship appears extremely probable; (3) a group in which the 

 relationship appears possible. Concerning the nerve-cells, I pointed out that this 

 relationship is clear enough in the embryonic stages; not so, however, in the adult 

 cell. For these one could admit that the apparatus gradually outgrows the centro- 

 theca and surrounds the nucleus, as we know it does in certain cells. But even in the 

 adult its complicated form does not exclude, as I suggested, such a relationship, for 

 we know of cases in which the centre theca undergoes somewhat similar changes. This 

 last hypothesis does not, however, seem to be supported by recent investigations. 



Hortega (1916) has recently published a number of data concerning the cen- 

 trioles of the adult nerve-cell; the comparison of his results for the Purkinge cells, 

 for instance, with those obtained by Sanchez (1916) for the reticular apparatus of 

 of the same cells is certainly not in favor of any close relationship between appara- 

 tus and centrioles. Monti's opinion, as indicated above, settles the difficulty, but 

 it can not be accepted without further investigation. Ramon y Cajal (1914), for 



