410 GEORGE T. HARGITT 
spireme or into loops more or less regularly and definitely grouped 
together. All the chromatin in this new cell came from the old 
cell. These chromatin loops are transformed into a nuclear 
reticulum and a nucleolus. There is a great increase in the size 
and volume of the nucleolus at an early period; later it is believed 
there must be a synthesis of new chromatin, since the original 
chromatin of the nucleus is not sufficient to account for all that is 
used during the growth period by being passed into the cytoplasm, 
and that which still remains over when the chromosomes of the 
maturation spindle are formed. When the nucleolus has dis- 
appeared the reticulum undergoes a condensation of its chromatin 
into large grains and eventually these form chromosomes. Only 
a small portion of the chromatin which remains in the nucleus 
at the time of polar body formation is actually used in the forma- 
tion of the chromosomes and the rest is scattered in the cytoplasm 
and there dissolved. This sort of thing, which from published 
accounts is not limited to the hydroids or to the coelenterates 
but is more or less common, leads us to consider whether the mat- 
ter of the continuity of the germ-plasm, the individuality and 
continuity of the chromosomes, the alleged supremacy or unique- 
ness of the chromosomes in heredity and so forth, are not after 
all mere names or phrases. There should be more careful thought 
as to whether the things connoted by these names are not also 
without real meaning or significance. Once they were undoubt- 
edly useful and served a valuable purpose, but are we not allowing 
ourselves to be unduly handicapped and hemmed in by these older 
conceptions? Must we not come to look more to the ultimate 
chemical composition and constitution and not to morphological 
entities really to harmonize and explain the various and varying 
functions and activities of all cells, somatic as well as germ cells? 
