Guilliermond - Atkinson — 68 — Cytoplasm 



and renders them very apparent. A 1-2% solution of osmic acid 

 also preserves them and does not make them brown. The chon- 

 driosomes of fungi, like those of animals do not, therefore, reduce 

 osmic acid unless followed by a treatment of pyrogallol. On the 

 contrary, the methods of osmic impregnation recommended for 

 bringing out the Golgi apparatus, blackens the chondriosomes 

 very strongly and usually makes them vesiculate (Guilliermond). 



The comparative study of living and fixed hyphae of the 

 Saprolegniaceae has also enabled us to demonstrate that all the 

 ordinary fixatives containing acetic acid or alcohol profoundly 

 alter the chondriosomes. Careful observation, however, shows 

 that they continue to exist in the cytoplasm, sometimes in a very 

 contracted state, sometimes vesiculate, in which case they are 

 more stainable than the cytoplasm. The mitochondrial fixatives, 

 i.e., those of Benda, Meves, Regaud, and foiTnaldehyde as well, 

 preserve the chondriosomes, on the contrary, as faithfully as 

 possible in the forms they show when alive. After the action of 

 these last fixatives, the chondriosomes stain clearly with iron 

 haematoxylin, acid fuchsin, and crystal violet. They behave, 

 therefore, exactly as do the chondriosomes of animal cells. 



Investigations of Regaud, then of Faure-Fremiet, and of 

 Mayer and Schaeffer have proved that the chondriosomes of 

 animal cells are made up of a lipoprotein complex in which 

 lipides (phosphoaminolipides) predominate. Of these workers, 

 the last three named based their conclusions on the belief that 

 mitochondrial fixatives are all oxidizing agents which transform 

 the unsaturated fatty acids into hydroxyl acids. These are only 

 slightly soluble in alcohol and xylol, and are capable of being 

 strongly stained. The chromaticity of the chondriosomes, there- 

 fore, is due to the lipide substance which they contain. The work 

 of GiROUD has shown, on the other hand, the presence of proteins 

 in the chondriosomes. This author was able to obtain within 

 these elements all the reactions of proteins. These facts apply 

 as well to the chondriosomes of fungi as to those of animals. As 

 a matter of fact, the presence of lipides in the chondriosomes is 

 established in several ways: not only by their characteristics of 

 fixation and staining but also by their reduction of osmic acid 

 after treatment with pyrogallol or after prolonged infiltration 

 in the oven; by the fact that the chondriosomes stain by the 

 method of Dietrich-Smith, considered as characteristic of phos- 

 phoaminolipides ; by their reaction with indophenol blue, a lipide 

 indicator. Milovidov has also demonstrated that the chondrio- 

 somes of the Saprolegniaceae give all the reactions characteristic 

 of proteins. 



It may, therefore, be concluded from their behavior, which is 

 quite analogous to that shown by the chondriosomes of animal 

 cells, that the chondriosomes of fungi are, like those in animal 

 cells, composed of lipoproteins much more rich in lipides than 

 is the cytoplasm. More recently, Milovidov has established the 

 fact, by a study of the Plasmodiophoraceae and Myxomycetes, 



