592 Annals New York Academy of Sciences 



Similarly, the assumption of Gregory (1962) that the organized element in 

 question may either be a "Hulle" cell of Aspergillus nidiilans or the pollen 

 of a Juiiiperus sp. or Taxus baccata can be rejected on the basis of the stain- 

 ing alone, even without taking into account the basic morphological differences. 

 It has already been mentioned that with Feulgen staining only the nuclei of the 

 pollen grains stain and not the body as a whole. 



Interpreting the results of the diffuse Feulgen staining of the type 1 and 

 type 2 organized elements presents a different cjuestion. Bacteria and blue- 

 green algae are known to contain chromidial apparatus instead of a compact 

 nucleus. It is customary to refer to the central body or centroplasm of the 

 Cyanophyta as nuclear equivalents, containing diffused nucleic material. In- 

 deed, Feulgen staining in such organisms will result in a diffuse pink coloration 

 of the protoplasm. One may thus think that some of the organized elements 

 indeed contain diffused nucleic material in their interior. The present evidence, 

 however, is not sufficient to substantiate such a supposition. We can only 

 state that, according to one of the most specific biological staining techniques 

 developed, there is an indication that nucleic acids are present in the interiors 

 of some of the type 1 and type 2 organized elements. It is, however, equally 

 possible that an as yet unknown material is present in these organized elements, 

 which will react with the Feulgen reagent to produce the pink color. 



The Gridley staining was primarily developed (195vS) as "A Stain for Fungi 

 in Tissue Sections." It is the combination of Gomori's aldehyde-fuchsin stain 

 and the Hotchkiss-McManus technique. As Gridley states (p. 303): "The 

 problem of positive tissue elements with the periodic acid-Schiff reaction was 

 eliminated by hydrolyzing in chromic acid instead of periodic acid." For 

 counter staining Metanil yellow is used. Fungal conidia and hyphae are 

 stained deep blue to purple by this method while other tissue elements, mostly 

 the proteins, stain yellow with the counter stain. The results of this technique 

 on our samples were interesting for 3 reasons. (1) Some of the organized ele- 

 ments of type 1, type 2, and type 3, stained lilac with the stain, whereas the 

 mineral matrix of the Orgueil and Ivuna meteorite in many instances took a 

 dirty purple color. A similar staining pattern of the minerals was observed 

 in the soil samples, in which, however, some algae stained rose and fungi be- 

 came blue. It was, therefore, surprising to see that the minerals of the Murray 

 meteorite did not stain with this stain. The starch grains took a vivid magenta 

 color. (2) Type 5 organized elements stained orange with the Gridley stain- 

 ing and the surrounding halo turned yellow from the counter stain. The 

 meaning of this reaction is obscure. (3) The forms described by Staplin (1962) 

 as Coelesliles sexaugulalus from the Orgueil meteorite stained yellow, probably 

 from the Metanil yellow. These forms have originally a yellowish-orange 

 shade, however, after the exposure to the Gridley staining the change in their 

 color was striking. On the slides prepared from the meteorites not a single 

 spore or fungus hypha could be detected. In the preparation from Holbrook 

 1 specimen of Nitzschia acicularis (a Diatom) was seen. 



A surprising result was obtained by the application of a watery solution of 

 Janus green B. Many of the type 1 and a few of type 2 organized elements 

 developed a blue-stained reticulate structure in their inside. This stain is a 



