Fitch & Anders: "Organized Elements" in Chondrites 505 



First, their material contained a few particles of striking morphology which 

 we had not found and which they did not find in our material. Examples of 

 such particles found in their material are shown in figure 6, A and B, and 

 FIGURE 7, A and B. These were classified by Claus and Nagy as type II 

 organized elements with double wall and spiny surface. Particles of strik- 

 ingly similar morphology are illustrated in figure 6, C and D, and figure 7, 

 C and D. These are common ragweed pollen grains. The particles in figures 

 6, A and B, and 7, A and B, were suggested by them to be extraterrestrial life 



Figure 6. (A and B) Organized element from preparation of Claus and Nagy. The 

 different levels of focus indicate double wall structure and spin\- surface. (C and D) Ragweed 

 pollen grain. Double wall and surface spines are shown at different levels of focus. The 

 line is 20 n in length. 



forms resembling hystrichospherids, spiny fossil algae. The appearance of 

 these algae and some pollen grains may be similar. It seems that in this in- 

 stance, morphological criteria alone may not be a sufficient basis for identifica- 

 tion. 



Two other particles from their material identified by them as type II or- 

 ganized elements are illustrated in figure 8, A and B. A third organized 

 element of similar appearance was also seen in their material. All 3 particles 

 were found on a slide reportedly stained with the Feulgen reaction. They 

 show a resemblance to starch grains (figure 8, C and D), stained with the 

 PAS reaction. The difference between the Feulgen and PAS reactions may 

 not be of significance in this instance, since we have noted that Schiff's reagent 



