470 J. DUESBERG 



morphologj^ one should, to be logical, reject 'mitochondria' as a 

 general term, for ' mitochondrium' means granule and cannot in 

 consequence mean filament. The analogy with the term 'cell' 

 is not adequate, for, though this word is not appropriate, it is, 

 however, generally adopted; and it should not be forgotten that 

 the invitation to use a term in a different sense than its original 

 meaning comes in this case precisely from those who want to use 

 'mitochondria' as a general expression. 



Confusion in the cytological nomenclature is due mainly to 

 two causes. One of these causes is that the same things have 

 often been described under different names, without the authors 

 being aware that they were dealing with the same structures; 

 recent papers, especially those of Meves, have cleared, or should 

 have cleared the situation very much, if it were not for the 

 fact that they are too often ignored or misunderstood, (we 

 know, for example, that many of the things which have been 

 described under the name of plastidules, Nebenkern, bioblasts, 

 microsomes, etc., are chondriosomes) . Another cause of con- 

 fusion in the nomenclature has been the creation of new terms, 

 under which heading falls the use of the expression 'mitochon- 

 dria' in a general sense. This, however, is a defect of human 

 nature, not a defect special to the cytologist, and against which 

 we are helpless. As an example of the overcrowding of every 

 field in anatomy with synonyms, I simply refer to a recent ar- 

 ticle by Rabl ('16), in which the nomenclature used in the de- 

 scription of the first stages of the development of the embryonic 

 shield of birds and mammals is exposed. 



My observations made on the blastomeres of Fundulus 

 (nine hours after fertilization) agree with those of Aunap on 

 Coregonus: mitochondria exclusively are found in this stage. 

 The granules are scattered throughout the cell-body, but are 

 'especially accumulated along the cell-limits. No change in 

 shape is observed during mitosis, nor is there any special dispo- 

 sition in the dividing cell, other than the usual accumulation 

 between the daughter-nuclei during the ana- and telophases. 

 The marginal cells deserve special mention, for they are, as well 



