474 



Vorzug zu sein ; jedenfalls hoffe ich, daß die Keimplasmatheorie in 

 Zukunft noch mehr als bisher der Wissenschaft von der Vererbung 

 als eine brauchbare Dienerin befunden werden wird. 

 Freiburg i. Br., den 27. Januar 1899. 

 (Eingegangen den 4. März 1899.) 



Nachdruck verboten. 



Further Note on the Post-Embryonal History of Striped Muscles 



in Mammals. 



By Alexander Meek, M. Sc, 

 Durham College of Science, Newcastle upon Tyne. 



(In reply to Dr. B. Morpurgo.) 



In July last year I published a preliminary report on the researches 

 I had made on the above subject 1 ). The December number of 

 the same Journal contains an article with almost the same title -) ; 

 and as the author's conclusions in one particular are diametrically 

 opposed to my own, I propose to shortly criticise his paper and to 

 present some further results which I have been enabled to arrive at 

 since my first communication was written. 



It is quite possible that exceptions to the conditions I demon- 

 strated before do occur, but while Morpurgo refers to a single example 

 in the white rat, I have examined several muscles in the same an- 

 imal and in addition in the cat, the sheep and the field vole and 

 I have not yet met with the exception. 



It will be remembered by those who looked through my previous 

 paper that a reduction in the number of fibres accompanied by a con- 

 siderable hypertrophy of the survivors was demonstrated. Morpurgo's 

 example gives a slight increase which he says begins with karyokinesis 

 and ends with amitosis. I do not want to deny that his results may 

 be perfectly correct, for when we consider the unequal stages which 

 different mammals present at birth it may be found that some of the 

 muscles especially in the case of the lower mammals continue to grow 

 by hyperplasia in early post - embryonal life. But I wish to submit 



1) Anatomischer Anzeiger, Bd. 14, 1898, p. 619. 



2) Anatomischer Anzeiger, Bd. 15, 1898, p. 200. 



