STAUROCALYPTUS ENT ACANTHUS. 201 



here to do with a fibrillar structure. But by close observntions I have 

 come to the belief that the streaks do not represent fibrils actually 

 developed as such but are merely wrinkles or irregularities in the 

 thickness of the fihn. One strong reason in support of this view 

 is the fact that the streaks are frequently quite ill-defined as to 

 their contour and may, at one place or another, pass over gradually 

 and insensibly into the general substance of the film. They are 

 iu part probably the effect of shrinkage or contraction, such as 

 might be caused by the action of reagents or by protoplasmic 

 activity in the living state ; the rest are to all appearance simply 

 the terminations of those filamentous trabeculœ which have just 

 reached the film -like portion in order to join it. 



In certain places it seemed to me that the spaces between 

 the trabecular nuclei {2-'2h /^ large) were unusually wide. 



The thesocytes are of a somewhat different appearance in the 

 two specimens. 



In the type specimen of S. entacanthus, they are conglomerate- 

 like in that the contents consist of a group of variously sized 

 spherules (PI. XIV., fig. 18). These are usually deeply stained 

 but not always to the same intensity. Their substance is nearly 

 homogeneous or shows a faint granulation. In many cases the 

 contents appear to be in the process of breaking up and becoming 

 resorbed. The nucleus evidently lies concealed among the spherules. 



In the other specimen {S. entacanthus f) the thesocytes have 

 moderately well-stained protoplasma-like contents which are rather 

 coarsely granular (PI. XIY., fig. 19), instead of being composed 

 of spherules in conglomeration. The nucleus is distinctly visible 

 ÎIS a dark spot. The cells ai'o roundish or oval in shape with a 

 diameter of 20 /^ or under. A delicate enveloping membrane can 

 often be distinctly made out. I have found the cells in abundance 



