438 LORANDE LOSS WOODRUFF AND RH. ERDMANN 



The next stage which is pecuhar to the process is the separation 

 of chromatin bodies from the macronucleus. In the early stages 

 of the reorganization process cells are seen with only two or more 

 chromatin bodies (figs. 6 and 7, pi. 1) which are more or less 

 spherical and consist of large and small granules. Figure 8 

 , (pi. 1) shows a macronucleus which is surrounded by several of 

 these bodies which have been ejected from it. This method of 

 nuclear disintegration is not unique in Infusoria because similar 

 morphological phenomena are described by Neresheimer and 

 Buschkiel. Neresheimer ('08) mentions that chromatin bodies 

 are ejected from the macronucleus of Ichthyopthirius before the 

 beginning of the sexual process. This species during vegetative 

 life has its macronucleus and micronucleus in one body, but this 

 difference is unimportant because the chromatin bodies of Ich- 

 thyropthirius contain the combined material of the macronucleus 

 and micronucleus, and at the time of extrusion the vegetative 

 or sexual character of the chromatin bodies is determined. In 

 Paramaecium aurelia merely vegetative nuclear material is ex- 

 truded by the macronucleus. 



A connection between the macronucleus and the chromatin 

 bodies of Paramaecium as described by Buschkiel in Ichthyop- 

 thirius ('08, p. 81) could not be discovered and seems not to 

 exist because these bodies are formed in the macronucleus and 

 are 'ejected through openings in the membrane. The formation 

 of the chromatin bodies begins in the macronucleus and is evi- 

 dent by the condensation of granular material at various points 

 within the membrane (fig. 8, pi. 1), other parts of the macro- 

 nucleus becoming devoid of chromatin as segregation proceeds. 

 The chromatin bodies are not yet surrounded by clear areas. 

 The resulting membranous condition of the old macronucleus 

 is shown in figures 6, 10 and 11 (pi. 1) and figure 14 (pi. 2). 

 Two characteristic stages in the elimination of chromatin bodies 

 by the macronucleus are given in figures 8 and 9 (pi. 1). 



The chromatin bodies are removed from their place of origin 

 by movements of the cytoplasm, thus emphasizing the well- 

 known cytoplasmic currents in the cell. The specimen shown 



