THE CELL 97 



glandular activity, were composed of the antecedents 

 of substances supplied by the cells to the glandular secre- 

 tion, were products of cellular activity, but were not 

 components of the essential vital structure of the cyto- 

 plasm. In the cells of the liver it is common to find 

 globules of fat and glycogen especially after a meal rich 

 in fats and carbohydrates, but being temporarily present 

 they cannot be essential components of the cytoplasm. 



In the larger free cells, such as amoeba and paramoecium, 

 we find granules (physodes) of temporary occurrence 

 which are probably the not yet utilized products result- 

 ing from the intracellular digestion of the smaller entities 

 upon which the organisms feed. 



In vegetable cells there is even less difficulty in differ- 

 entiating certain large coarse granules not essential 

 components of the cytoplasm, yet contained in that sub- 

 stance and destined for the performance of definite 

 functions. These are the chromatophores, which are 

 the antecedents of the chloroplasts, by which chlorophyl 

 is formed, and the chromoplasts by which are elaborated 

 the pigments by which the flowers and fruits are colored. 

 Plant cells also contain starch and aleurone granules in 

 many cases. Many plant cells are also distended with 

 sap which takes the form of vacuoles that soon become 

 too large to be mistaken for granules. 



It is thus seen that the cytoplasm is not only granular 

 because of its spongioplasm, but also because of adventi- 

 tious granules constituting the deutoplasm or paraplasm, 

 matters temporarily contained in it. 



It must, however, occur to the student that there is 

 no criterion for the separation of paraplasm and spongio- 

 plasm other than our ability to recognize the nature and 

 purpose of the latter and our inability to do so with 

 regard to the former. 



The second essential structure of the cell is the nucleus. 

 In its most highly developed form this is a highly com- 

 plex organ. It appears as a spheroidal protoplasmic 

 body whose size bears a fairly constant relation to the 

 size of the cell though the proportion differs greatly in 

 7 



