THE BEHAVIOR OF MITOCHONDRIA 43 



submaxillary gland of the mouse, and was of the opinion 

 that the secretory granules originate from the mitochondria. 

 Levi ('12), on the other hand, advanced the idea that mito- 

 chondria are permanent cell-organs, and while they may be 

 involved in the secretory process they do not transform as 

 such into secretion granules. 



In a series of papers, Moulon ('lOa, '10b) has described 

 the transformation of mitochondria into secretion in some 

 of the cells of the suprarenal gland. The rod-shaped 

 mitochondria with blebs become globular, later agglutinated 

 masses, and finally the entire cell is filled with the mito- 

 chondrial product which he calls a "prosecretion." Takagi 

 ('22) described a similar chain of events of mitochondria in 

 the thyroid gland of the dog. Ma ('25) concluded that 

 mitochondria are concerned in thyroid secretion in the 

 albino rat. Key ('25), however, does not beheve that 

 mitochondria are responsible for the specific activity of the 

 cells that contain them. 



Cowdry's general discussion of the relationship of mito- 

 chondria to secretion may be considered as reflecting the 

 opinion of those who are against the idea that mitochondria 

 are concerned in secretion. He says: "I incUne strongly 

 toward Regaud's eclectosome theory (1919a, p. 919), ac- 

 cording to which mitochondria play the part of plasts 

 choosing and selecting substances from the surrounding 

 cytoplasm, condensing them and transforming them in 

 their interior into infinitely diverse products; but I would 

 venture to emphasize the fact that in all this the mitochon- 

 dria may be acting in an entirely passive manner as a 

 vehicle, taking up materials by virtue of their phosphohpin 

 constitution, or on account of physical forces acting on 

 their surfaces, or for other reasons, and that the optically 

 homogeneous ground-substance of the cytoplasm may be 

 the active and essential agent in this as in so many other 

 vital manifestations." It is difficult to understand why 



