176 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [May 



Micrococcus lanceolatus are not, under certain conditions 

 motile, or why tlie methods employed satisfactorily in 

 staining the capsule will not act as well in bringing out 

 the flagella. I have tried repeatedly to stain the flagella 

 after these methods, but more particularly the one used 

 hy Prof. Welch in staining the capsule on Micrococcus 

 lanceolatus, but invariably the results have been negative. 

 Why there should be such a nuirked difference between 

 the motile and non-motile forms in the reaction of the 

 "capsular" plasma to staining fluid has not yet been ex- 

 plained. 



T have sought for an explanation of the structure of the 

 flagella-producing substance in the cilia or flagella of the 

 zoospores found in certain of the fungi, but thus far my 

 eff'orts have not been rewarded, although much assistance 

 may be obtained from a study of those forms. It is quite 

 probable that certain observed phenomena, especially in 

 reference to the free flagella and the formation of the 

 rings and hooks iVequently observed both on the distal 

 ends of the flagella, and separated from them, may be ex- 

 plained by the same theories as those of zoospores. There 

 are two views as to the disposition of the flagella of swarm 

 spores. One is that they are cast off, and the other that 

 they are absorbed into the body of the spore. Rothert 

 shows, in a recent article, that both views are correct. 

 " In the second swarm stage of saprolegnia and in the 

 peronospora^, the flagella are either cast off as soon as tbe 

 spores come to rest, or soon after, or else they remain at- 

 tached to the spore indefinitely even after germination. 



In the first swarm stage of saprolegnia, however, he 

 found, to his surprise, that they are uniformly drawn back 

 into the body of the protoplasm, the withdrawal being 

 slow at first, and then quite rapid. The loops are formed 

 either while the flagella are attached to the spores, or 

 after they are cast off." He suggests the possibility that 

 the flagella are formed out of special cytoplasm existing 



