rHE CELL 81 



son makes the following- remark : "The division of the 

 cytoplastic granules must remain a quite open question, 

 yet we should remember that in dividing plastids of 

 plants cells are often very minute, and that in the centre- 

 some we have a body no larger in many cases than a 

 microsome, which is positively known to be in some cases 

 a persistent morphological element; having the power of 

 growth, division and persistence in the daughter cells. 

 When we consider the analogy between the centrosome 

 and the chromatin grains, when we recall the evidence 

 that the latter graduate into the oxychromatin granules, 

 and these in turn into cytomicrosomes, we must admit 

 that Burke's cautious suggestion that the whole cell 

 might be a congerie of self propagating units of a lower 

 order is sufficiently supported by facts, which constitute 

 a legitimate working hypothesis." 



You will see from this that the general opinion of 

 scientists is that the cell is a colony of still smaller cells 

 or beings ; and that the centrosome is simply one of these 

 smaller cells specifically in charge and organized to be 

 the general director and manager of the whole organiza- 

 tion we call the cell. Figure 7 of the centrosome shows 

 clearly that it is in contact with every part of the body 

 of the cell. The reader can clearly see that the individuals 

 organized together to make the complete whole we call 

 cell are too small to be clearly seen and to have their 

 individual actions studied. 



Now we come to consider the most wonderful per- 

 formance in plant and animal life, which are the repro- 

 ductive actions of the cells that build plants and animals. 

 As the reader probably knows, all life we see, such as 

 plants and animals, begins as one single cell. In ref- 

 erence to this point Prof. Drummond makes the following 

 remark : "The embryo of future man begins life like the 



