4 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. XIII, No. 1, 



was connected at many points but in time it is easily seen that a 

 true spirem is being fonned. During the main part of the con- 

 traction the knot is so close that it is difficult to see any of the 

 structure. Usually there are threads sticking out at the edge of 

 the knot. During the process the thread of the spirem is short- 

 ened. He thinks the contraction is due to this shortening of the 

 threads of the reticiilum as it goes to make up the spirem. The 

 forms of the "synaptic" knot are varied. When the knot loosens 

 the chromatin material is seen to be in the form of seven bivalent 

 chromosomes, which have assumed the form of rings some being 

 linked together. These rings, he says, remain together until the 

 two halves of the bivalent rings are pulled apart on the spindle. 



In the second paper (3) he states definitely that he believes the 

 dark staining masses foniied on the perifery of nucleus and con- 

 nected with one another by delicate threads to be the "prochro- 

 mosomes" described by Overton (17) but he says there is no 

 evidence that they are arranged side by side in pairs on a system 

 of threads that might be interpreted as two parallel spirems. 

 The chromatin bodies are scattered throughout the nucleus but 

 where ever there are two together they lie end to end upon a 

 delicate strand that runs in the direction of the longer axes. The 

 nucleus after considerable tim.e, becomes filled with a close reticu- 

 limi at which stage the chromatin bodies can only be distinguished 

 with difficulty. He found some differences in the method of 

 chromosome fomiation from that described in his first paper. 

 The knot loosens and a shorter thicker thread emerges. This 

 spirem is then constricted into a chain of fourteen chromosomes. 

 A longitudinal split becomes apparent just before the heterotypic 

 chroiuosomes reach the poles. 



In Erythronium, Schaffner (19) finds the chromatin material 

 going into synizesis — a term used to designate the contraction as 

 being a separate thing from the fusion of the chromatin. This 

 contraction he considers to be an artifact. After synizesis he 

 finds the fomiation of a spirem which by twisting, forms loops all 

 around the nuclear wall. There then occur breaks between the 

 loops. The loops continue to twist until the chromosomes are 

 fully formed. The chromosomes are described as having quite 

 distinctive shapes. 



In Liliimi tigrinum (20) he found a continuous spirem with 

 a single row of chromatin granules. This spirem enters synizesis 

 and comes out of it without a conjugation or a division of granules. 

 Later on the granules divide but the linen thread does not show a 

 distinct separation. The continuous spirem shortens, thickens, 

 and twists into twelve loops which break into twelve chromosomes. 

 These chromosomes arc attached to the spindle fibres in the 

 mother star at or near the end and during the reduction the chro- 

 mosomes uncoil and separate by a transverse division at the 



