98 ZOOLOGY 



to be after the application of 2 per cent, osmic for 10 to 15 minutes, 

 but the use of the term " intra vitam " in these circumstances is 

 to be deprecated. 



Having thus summarised the more orthodox views on the 

 subject of the structure of the Golgi apparatus, it is necessary 

 to consider a theory brought forward originally by Accroyer (vide 

 12) in 1924, and subsequently sponsored and elaborated by Parat, 

 Painleve and their co-workers. It was noted at the commmence- 

 ment of this section that the canalicular nature of the Golgi appa- 

 ratus, put forward by Holmgren, and afterwards generally attri- 

 buted to bad technique, still lingered in the minds ot many 

 cytologists as a possible explanation of the different forms of the 

 Golgi apparatus. This has received fresh impetus of late from the 

 Vacuome Theory. This theory, as stated by Parat and Painleve, 

 in several papers (106-109), is as follows : — 



All animal and plant cells have two, and only two, fundamental 

 but independent morphological elements — the vacuome and the 

 chondriome. The vacuome is an aqueous phase ; the chondriome 

 a lipoidal one. The vacuome consists either of isolated vacuoles, 

 or else of a canalicular system. The vacuome stains specifically in 

 neutral red intra vitam. From these premises they state that the 

 " reticular apparatus " of Golgi, and the " trophospongium " of 

 Holmgren (in fact the whole classical Golgi apparatus), are arte- 

 facts produced by precipitation of silver or osmium at the surface 

 of, inside or between the vacuoles. " II n'existe pas d'' appareil ' 

 cellulaire ; les deux seules entites morphologiques de toute cellule 

 vegetale et animale sont le vacuome et le chondriome.'''' 



This theory w^as originally propounded by Accroyer {vide 12) 

 in 1924, who stated that the chondriome (composed of all the mito- 

 chondrial units) can be stained intra vitam in Janus green ; the 

 secretory granules or vacuoles round them can be stained intra 

 vitam in neutral red. This was taken up and expanded by Parat. 

 The idea was derived partly from the canalicular theory of earlier 

 authors, and partly by analogies with plant-cell structures. 

 Since these analogies form a most important part of the theory 

 itself, and no less of its criticism, it will be necessary to diverge 

 for a moment to consider the position in plants. Two workers. 



