ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 253 



daughter-nuclei, but gradually contracts and condenses until it becomes 

 an almost spherical mass of chromatin ; this Keimbahn chromatin becomes 

 situated near the posterior pole of the egg, and is recognizable as the 

 " nucleolus " of Silvestri. 



The nucleus of the fully deyeloped egg seems to arise in the following 

 manner : oocytes fuse end to end in pairs ; the posterior member is the 

 older and contains the Keimbahn-chromatin only ; the anterior oocyte 

 of the pair possesses a spindle which breaks down and transforms into a 

 resting nucleus. Thus eyery egg of Copidosoma consists of two oocytes 

 which have united end to end. 



Parthenogenesis in Otiorhynchus.* — G. Grandi finds evidence of 

 parthenogenesis — cyclical at least — in a Mediterranean beetle, 0. cribri- 

 collis ; and the same fact has been noted in 0. turca and 0. ligustici by 

 Ssilantjew and Wassiliew respectively. Grandi examined hundreds and 

 all were females, which showed considerable variability. The males 

 remain unknown. Egg-laying was observed. The spermotheca was 

 found to be somewhat reduced in size, and without trace of spermatozoa. 



Contents of Adipose Cells of Caterpillars.! — A. Ch. Hollande has 

 investigated the formation of albuminoid crystalloids and of urates in 

 the adipose cells of Vanessa io L. and Vanessa urticse L. The cells 

 are of two kinds : (1) large cells situated round the intestine, containing 

 numerous yellow globules of fat ; and (2 ) much smaller cells, with white 

 fat-globules about the periphery of the body. This difference is only a 

 transitory result of the more rapid accumulation of fat in the peri- 

 intestinal cells, and it tends to disappear towards the approach of the 

 pupal stage. At this stage two new elements appear in the adipose cells ; 

 granules of urates of soda and albuminoid crystals. The author has 

 studied the formation and origin of these elements. Unlike previous 

 investigators, he does not find that the urates are eliminated from the 

 blood by the adipose cells ; these have no excretory function. The 

 urates within them have not an exogenous origin, and their accumulation 

 is not associated with non-functioning of the Malpighian tubules, so 

 that the adipose cells cannot be regarded as a " supplementary kidney." 

 The urates arise as products of the transformations of the albuminoid 

 substances within the adipose cells themselves. The disappearance of 

 the fat vacuoles, the formation of minute albuminoid globules round 

 the nucleus, and the appearance of fine granules of urate of soda 

 are described in detail, and the urates are seen to be the final stage of 

 the nucleo-proteids. AYhen the pupal stage in over, the adipose cells 

 contain very few albuminoid crystals ; the cells again become filled with 

 fat globules, but the granules of urates persist for a long time, if indeed, 

 they ever disappear. The origin of the perinuclear albuminoid globules 

 is still unknown. It is possible that the adipose cells abstract from the 

 blood the albuminoid materials necessary to their formation, but that is 

 doubtful. It seems to the author probable, though not yet demonstrable. 



* Boll. Lab. Zool. Scuola Agric. Portici, vii. (1913) pp. 17-18. 

 t Arch. Zool. Exp6r., liii. (1914) pp. 559-78 (1 pi.). 



