M'CLUNG : SPERMATOCYTE DIVISIONS OF THE LOCUSTID.E . 209 



that this fine thread, made up of granules, becomes double by 

 the division of each granule individually, thus producing a 

 double thread. Thus it is that the two halves of a longitudi- 

 nally divided chromosome are made equivalent, not by the 

 sifting apart of preexisting granules, but by the division of 

 these after they are arranged in a linear series. It need hardly 

 ibe mentioned that the formation of the thread has here a reason 

 for existence which is entirely lacking according to Wilcox's 

 scheme. 



This much space has been devoted to Wilcox's statements, 

 'not because they present any arguments against the generally 

 accepted views of his fellow workers, but because he represents 

 a rapidly lessening minority which is content to work in a very 

 limited field and to resort for the explanation of diverse results 

 to the very convenient theory that great differences may be 

 •expected in the normal processes of even closely related forms. 

 •One needs only to glance at the work of all insect spermatolo- 

 gists to see how closely the agreement now is upon the impor- 

 tant points of the process. This accordance of results Wilcox 

 notes, but interprets in his own way, which may be regarded 

 as not exactly complimentary to the skill and judgment of his 

 colaborers. "It is only necessary," he says, "to refer to any 

 recent publication on the subject to find examples of this at- 

 tempt to force the divergent processes in different species to fit 

 the same formula." This is certainly a very easy and con- 

 venient way to dispose of the accumulated observations of the 

 many careful investigators who have come to an agreement 

 upon the important questions under discussion, but I venture 

 to think will hardly satisfy any one except its sponsor. 



After handing in this article for publication, I fortunately 

 secured a copy of the paper by R. de Sinety (37) in which the 

 spermatogenesis of various Orthopteran species is described. I 

 regret that the available time is so short that I shall not be 

 able to bestow upon this contribution to insect spermatogenesis 

 the attention it deserves, but I shall try at least to consider 

 the principal points wherein a difference exists between the re- 

 sults of de Sinety and of myself. 



It is unfortunate that we have here a further complication of 

 the problem concerning the character of the two maturation 

 divisions in insects. At this time it had begun to appear as if 



