EVIDENCE OF A PROTOPLASMIC NETWORK IN THE 
OENOCYTES OF THE SILKWORM. 
By Ropert K. VICKERY, Stanford University. 
In the study of cell morphology the need of discovering some 
structural framework within the protoplasm has long occupied 
the mind of the investigators of this field. This subject has 
received consideration in books published by the late Mr. H. M. 
Bernard and Dr. Emil Rohde. Independently they have come 
to the same conclusion, namely, that all tissues and their con- 
stituent cells are permeated by a structural network. There 
is considerable evidence of such a network. In the nucleus the 
tangle of linin filaments have long been observed. Intracellular 
filaments have been abundantly demonstrated by a host of 
workers. Bernard and Rohde have brought out the very sig- 
nificant fact that syncytial tissues are permeated by such net- 
works. The structural character of the cytoplasm has long 
been a field of controversy. Of the three different early theo- 
ries—the Fibrillo Reticular Theory, Butschli’s Foam Theory, 
and Altmann’s Granular Theory—none has received universal 
acceptance. The discovery of mitochondria by Benda, Meves, 
Duesberg and others in all types of cells, has led to considerable 
speculation as to whether these elements can be truly associated 
with the linin filaments and their chromatin granules. Also 
whether they too have any architectural significance. These 
questions have been largely answered by the work of Michaelis, 
Chambers and the Lewises by staining the mitochondria of live 
tissue with Janus Green, and also the cell dissection work of 
Chambers and Kite. Chambers in his summary, draws the 
conclusion that the mitochondrial threads have tensile and 
elastic properties; however, this conclusion is qualified by the 
statement that these networks are not stable elements but that 
they reconstruct themselves by chemical or mechanical forces 
in response to changed conditions. In this paper an attempt 
will be made to show that in one particular case this network 
has a definite honeycomb structure and that the mitochondria 
and the linin filaments are continuous. 
The silkworm cenocytes proved to be the most available 
material. These cells are large ductless glands found in the 
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