388 KING. [Vor. XIX. 
uatus, since oocytes with their nuclei in synizesis are found in — 
all parts of the ovary and frequently lie adjacent to oocytes in 
which the chromatin is in the form of a clearly defined con- 
tinuous spireme (Fig. 22). Any method of fixation that 
would cause such a decided distortion of the nuclear contents 
in the one cell must of necessity have some effect on a neigh- 
boring cell which is in but a slightly different stage of develop- 
ment. In Bufo synizesis is not due to the degeneration of 
certain cells as Kingsbury (53) has claimed is the case in 
Desmagnathus fusca, since only in very rare instances are de- 
generating eggs to be found in the ovaries of young toads. 
Degenerating eggs, whether they are found in the ovaries of 
young toads or in those of adults, are usually deeply pigmented 
and they are invariably filled with phagocytes; they never 
resemble in any way the oocytes shown in Figs. 24-25. 
Synizesis, which is a well recognized stage in the develop- 
ment of the odcytes and spermatocytes of many forms, has, 
for the most part, been ignored by the investigators who have 
worked on the germ-cells of amphibians, or its presence has 
been considered as evidence of a degeneration of the cell. 
Gemmil describes a stage in Pelobates fuscus in which the 
nucleus of the young odcyte contains a star-shaped mass of 
chromatin which lies in the middle of a clear area and sends 
out processes to the nuclear membrane. It is evident, from 
the figures which Gemmil gives, that synizesis is the normal 
stage in the development of the ova of this amphibian. Nuss- 
baum figures condensation stages in the young germ-cells of 
Rana fusca when they are enclosed in a cyst membrane. He 
has, however, mistaken the order of sequence in the develop- 
. ment of the cells, as he considers that the contraction stage 
preceded one in which the cell contains a mulberry-shaped 
nucleus. Bataillon, Leydig, and Hoffman also mention the 
appearance of contracting figures in the course of the normal 
development of amphibian ova, although they venture no opin- 
ion as to the significance of these bodies. 
Bouin has entirely overlooked in Rana temporaria the young 
oocytes shown in my Figs. 20-22, and the earliest stage that he 
