CYTOPLASMIC INCLUSIONS 181 



considered as permanent, self-perpetuating structures. Wilson and Pol- 

 lister (1937), in connection with an investigation on sperm formation 

 in scorpions, review the division and distribution of mitochondra, Golgi 

 bodies, and vacuome, and show that the supposed accurate division is 

 actually an incidental fragmentation of large masses and that the distri- 

 bution is random during the division of the cell. They state: "There is, 

 however, little ground for the contention that either Golgi bodies or 

 chondriosomes can be regarded as permanent individuals having the 

 power of self perpetuation by growth and regular division." Exactly 

 the same situation has been shown in this discussion with respect to the 

 cytoplasmic granules of the Protozoa, from studies of both fixed material 

 and of living normal cells. The permanence of mitochondria in metazoan 

 cells has been summed up recently by Bensley (1937) : "The disappear- 

 ance and reappearance of mitochondria in living cells under observation, 

 as described by Chambers, however repugnant the idea may be to those 

 who would elevate mitochondria to the dignity of living, self-reproduc- 

 ing units, must be definitely entertained as probable." With respect to 

 the de novo origin of Golgi apparatus, Kirkman and Severinghaus 

 (1938) assert that "there is little to favor such a view," although they 

 quote at least a dozen authors who have advanced evidence of a de novo 

 origin in one form or another, admitting in several cases that the evidence 

 presented has not been refuted. For a detailed discussion, the reader is 

 referred to the review of the subject by these authors and to the original 

 publications, but it is clear that not all cytologists agree with these authors 

 on the permanence of the Golgi bodies. 



The concept that the cytoplasmic granules arise or are resorbed as a 

 result of specific conditions of metabolism in the cell — in other words 

 that there is a granular reaction — is a logical result of the evidence that 

 the granules are neither permanent nor self-perpetuating, and it is 

 therefore no surprise to find that this interpretation has been made with 

 respect to the cytoplasmic constituents of the Metazoa as well as of the 

 Protozoa. One of the clearest statements of this concept has been made 

 by Tennent, Gardiner, and Smith (1931) : "The results of this research 

 have been the conviction that neither Golgi bodies nor Chondriosomes 

 are structural elements in the cellular architecture, but that both are 

 the chemical products of physiological processes." Nahm (1933) like- 

 wise states that "they are the visible products of chemical reactions that 

 occur in the cell." 



