220 C. CLIFFORD DOBELL. 
into the endless discussion of ‘ What isa genus?” or ‘“‘ What 
is aspecies?”’ It seems to me profitless to argue the matter 
further at the present time. 
(c) Discussion of some Special Points in the 
Morphology and life-history of the Tricho- 
monads. 
il 
The Blepharoplast.—I wish here to say something about 
the minute chromatic ! body—the blepharoplast—which lies 
at the base of the flagella, and whose remarkable réle in 
division I have already shown. 
The name “ blepharoplast” was introduced by Webber 
(86) for the small body, which lies beside the nucleus and 
gives rise to the cilia in the antherozooids of plants (cycads, 
ferns, etc.). It was previously described by Belajeff, to whose 
beautiful work (48, 49, 50) we owe much of our knowledge 
of its nature. Additional facts have been givan by Ikeno 
(60), Shaw (80) and others. Although the earlier work was 
inconclusive, it seems practically certain, from the more recent 
studies—especially of Shaw and Belajeff—that the blepharo- 
plast of the spermatozooid is really the centrosome or its 
derivative. 
Amongst animals an exactly comparable condition—as I 
believe—is found. Here the axial filament of the sperma- 
tozoon tail arises, at least in many cases, from the centrosome— 
just as the cilia of the spermatozooid arise from the blepharo- 
plast. This was first described by Moore (69), and has since 
been confirmed by a host of other workers (Hermann, 
Lenhossék, Meves, and many more). 
Latterly the term “blepharoplast” came to be used to 
designate the chromatin body which lies at the base of the 
‘ It can be stained not only by the iron-hematoxylin method, but 
also with Delafield’s hematoxylin and borax carmine (not always satis- 
factorily with the last). 
