GENETIC CONTINUITY OF KINETIES 47 



tion" in Paramecium. This may be true and could mean 

 that some speciahzcd kineties or kinetosomes are endowed 

 with genetical continuity. This is plausible. We know 

 that in the ciliate Glaucoma scintillans or Leucophrys piri- 

 jormis (= Glaucoma piriformis = Tetrahyviena gelei) the 

 mouth is always produced by one kinety: the stomatogenic 

 kinety or kinety 1 [E. Chatton, A. and M. Lwoff, J. Monod 

 (1931)]. However, we do not know whether the property 

 of the kinety 1 is related to the special properties of its 

 kinetosomes or to the localization in its vicinity of specific 

 ^'molecular species." Probably this asymmetry reflects the 

 anisotropy of the cortex which is responsible for the action 

 of these "molecular species" which we consider responsible 

 for the reproduction of some localized kinetosomes and their 

 organization into a specific pattern. But a mouthless Para- 

 mecium is unable to feed, and the hypothesis cannot be ex- 

 cluded that the absence of mouth formation is the result of 

 starvation. The inability to regenerate the mouth could 

 also be due to the removal of localized cytoplasmic or- 

 ganelles. 



The problem of the autonomy and differentiation of 

 kineties is not yet solved. Perhaps the heterotrichous cili- 

 ate Licnophora wall provide a good example of its complex- 

 ity. The ciliary system of Licnophora chattoni comprises 

 two parts : the oral system and the basal system. According 

 to the investigations of S. Villeneuve-Brachon (1940), the 

 peristome of the daughter ciliate originates from one or a 

 very few kinetosomes escaping from the original peristomial 

 system of the mother. These kinetosomes multiply, thus 

 forming an anarchic and homogeneous field of closely 

 packed kinetosomes. Later on. kinetosomes are aligned and 

 organized just as if submitted to some orienting forces. The 

 kineties of the basal disc are reproduced by division (direct 

 continuity by elongation). 



W. Balamuth (1942) has performed some operations on 

 another closely related species of Licnophora, L. macfar- 



