MORPHOLOGY 67 



varies greatly among different genera and species in appearance, 

 structure and position within the body. It is usually connected with 

 the blepharoplast and located very close to the nucleus, though 

 not directly connected with it. It may be single, double, or multiple, 

 and may be pyriform, straight or curved rod-like, bandform, spirally 

 coiled or collar-like (Fig. 23). Kofoid and Swezy considered that the 

 parabasal body is derived from the nuclear chromatin, varies in 

 size according to the metabolic demands of the organism, and is a 

 "kinetic reservoir." On the other hand, Duboscq and Grasse main- 

 tain that this body is the Golgi apparatus, since (1) acetic acid 

 destroys both the parabasal body and the Golgi apparatus; (2) both 

 are demonstrable with the same technique; (3) the parabasal body 

 is made up of chromophile and chromophobe parts as is the Golgi 

 apparatus; and (4) there is a strong evidence that the parabasal 

 body is secretory in function. According to Kirby, who has made 

 an extensive study of this organella, the parabasal body could be 

 stained with Delafield's haematoxylin or Mallory's triple stain after 

 fixation with acetic acid-containing fixatives and the body does not 

 show any evidence to indicate that it is a secretory organella. More- 

 over the parabasal body is discarded or absorbed at the time of divi- 

 sion of the body and two new ones are formed. 



The parabasal body of Lophomonas hlattarum to which the name 

 was originally applied, is discarded when the organism divides and 

 two new ones are reformed from the centriole or blepharoplast (Fig. 

 62), and its function appears to be supportive. Possibly not all so- 

 called parabasal bodies are homologous or analogous. A fuller com- 

 prehension of the structure and function of the organella rests on 

 further investigations. 



The blepharoplast 



In the Mastigophora or in other groups in which flagellate stages 

 occur, the flagellum ends internally in a basal granule, which, in 

 turn, is sometimes connected by a much larger bod}^ This latter 

 organella has been called the blepharoplast. In many instances 

 they appear to be combined in one. The blepharoplast is further 

 connected by a fibril, the rhizoplast, with the nucleus (Fig. 24). 

 The blepharoplast and centriole are considered synonymous by 

 Minchin, Cleveland, and others, since they give rise to the kinetic 

 organella. Woodcock and Minchin held, on the other hand, that the 

 blepharoplast was a nucleus holding a special relation with loco- 

 motor organellae, and called it kinetonucleus. In recent years it 

 has become known that the blepharoplast of many flagellates re- 



