Cytological changes accompanying secretion in the nectar-glands of 



Vicia Faba 



Charles Rupert Stockard 



(with plates io and ii ) 



The cytological changes accompanying secretion have been 

 studied in a number of animal glands with the result that no very 

 obvious degree of uniformity was observed. There are some 

 cases involving the actual destruction of the secretory cells, 

 while in others the integrity of the cell is perfectly preserved. 

 The amount of work on the glandular cells of plants has not been 

 so extensive, yet, among the observations recorded, we find de- 

 scribed a considerable diversity in the sequence of events taking 

 place within nucleus and cytoplasm. The nuclei in the case of 

 some glands remain intact but change considerably in their stain- 

 ing reactions, in others the nuclear walls become ruptured and 

 their contents discharged into the body of the cell ; the cell-walls 

 themselves in some instances are recorded as being dissolved, and 

 in one case, Drosera y the chromatin of the nucleus becomes ar- 

 ranged into a definite number of V-shaped chromosomes during 

 secretion. There are also instances of observers working on 

 similar objects obtaining entirely different results. We are thus 

 forced to recognize the discordant condition existing at present in 

 this field. 



Having the above results in view Prof. Francis E. Lloyd kindly 

 suggested to me that I study the cytological changes in the secre- 

 tory cells of a nectar-gland on the stipules of Vicia Faba, the horse 

 bean. It is, therefore, a pleasure to take this opportunity of ex- 

 pressing my indebtedness to Professor Lloyd for his many valuable 

 suggestions and kindly criticism during the progress of this research. 



I hoped through the study of these glandular cells to be able 

 to throw some light on the origin of the secretory product and if 

 possible to determine what nuclear and cytological changes ac- 

 companied its production and discharge from the gland-cells, 



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