

CHAPTER tj \^v -^ yi 



How the Disarmed Tomite Proceeds 

 to Manufacture Explosive Weapons 

 in the Form of Trichocysts 



We have considered only what we may call ''normal'^ 

 kinetosomes, able to produce cilia. But kinetosomes may 

 acquire new properties. 



Until the end of tomitogenesis, the structure of the ciliary 

 row is simple. The kinetodesma is at its right. At the left, 

 we see the kinetosomes with the cilia and another corpuscle, 

 sometimes called the ^'kinetoplast/' which is produced to- 

 gether with the cilia and represents perhaps only the en- 

 larged basis of the cilium itself. But at the end of tomito- 

 genesis, all the kinetosomes divide. The daughter granule 

 is produced on the left in all the rows, except in the thig- 

 motactic field of 9, where it is produced at the right. 



These daughter granules do not produce cilia. They form 

 a cylindrical rod which elongates towards the inside of the 

 ciliate. These organelles are capable of being extruded 

 under the influence of certain stimuli; they are trichocysts. 



The formation of trichocysts has, for a very long time, 

 been obscure. All possible origins have been assigned to 

 them: nucleus, vacuoles, mitochondria, superficial network; 

 all except the right one. This confusion was due to the fact 

 that trichocysts are generally formed at any moment. In 

 Gymnodinioides, they are formed at only one phase of the 

 life cycle [E. Chatton, A. and M. Lwoff (1931b)]. The 

 picture is very clear, and it is perhaps necessary to state 

 that its diagrammatic representation corresponds to what is 



19 



