1914] Snook-Long : Parasynapsis in Aneides lugubris 515 



THE SPERMATOCYTE 



Following the last spermatogonial telophase, the chromatin 

 becomes very diffuse and is irregularly distributed in the form 

 of clumps or "net-knots" connected by fine threads (pi. 25, 

 fig. 3). If there is any arrangement or order in these threads, 

 it is completely masked by the patches of chromatin, nor is there 

 any suggestion of orderliness in the size or distribution of the 

 latter. There is no clear evidence of a " chromoplast " as de- 

 scribed by Eisen (1900) and later by Janssens (1905) in the 

 male sex cells of Batrachoseps attenuatu. 



Janssens also found evidence of a rotation of the nucleus 

 during this period, whereby the "chromoplast," at first in the 

 neighborhood of the sphere, came to lie opposite it. In Aneides 

 the sphere is found at one side of the nucleus, but further than 

 that it has been impossible to demonstrate any relation between 

 it and the elements of the nucleus until the resting stage is past. 



In lobules more posterior than those containing the resting 

 nuclei the fine threads gradually become more pronounced and 

 can be followed without difficulty for considerable distances. At 

 the same time it is plain that the threads are of greater diam- 

 eter and stain more heavily in the region of the sphere than 

 in the rest of the nucleus. The net-knots appear smaller and 

 are comparatively few, especially in the immediate vicinity of 

 the sphere, which may be said to lie at the proximal pole of the 

 nucleus. In this region the threads appear somewhat con- 

 densed (pi. 25, fig. 4) and close observation shows that they are 

 associated two by two in such a manner that when viewed from 

 the side they resemble the letter V, with the angle pointing 

 toward the sphere and the diverging arms prolonged in the 

 opposite direction. They are unbranched, as was also found to 

 be true for Salamandra by the Schreiners (1906) and for Batra- 

 choseps by Janssens (1905), the description of the conditions in 

 Batrachoseps being confirmed by Wilson (1912), who examined 

 Janssens' preparations. Sections fixed in Bouin's, Zenker's, or 

 Flemming's solutions and stained in a variety of ways show this 

 peculiarity. At this stage the distal portion of the nucleus shows 

 no such polar orientation, and if the sections should be so cut 



