UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



IN 



ZOOLOGY 



Vol. 11, No. 15, pp. 511-528, pis. 25-26, 1 text fig. April 15, 1914 



PARASYNAPTIC STAGES IN THE TESTIS 

 OF ANEIDES LUGUBRIS (HALLOWELL) 



BY 



HAEEY JAMES SNOOK AND J. A. LONG 



INTRODUCTION 



In many of the theories proposed to account for the segre- 

 gation of hereditary factors a more or less specific association 

 between the factors and the chromatic elements of the cell is 

 assumed. Any judgment as to the tenability of such theories 

 ought to be based, at least in part, upon the behavior of the 

 chromosomes themselves, the phenomena of synapsis being par- 

 ticularly significant in this connection. The present study has 

 been undertaken in an effort to obtain as much evidence as 

 possible about the actual conditions during the synaptic period. 

 Inquiries into the spermatogenesis of amphibians have contrib- 

 uted much towards a solution of the problem, and it has seemed 

 worth while to extend the observations to another representative 

 of the same class. An attempt has been made to answer the 

 following questions : Is there a stage, or a series of stages, in 

 spermatogenesis during which two or more chromosomes unite, 

 or in any manner become very closely associated ? If so, in what 

 manner and to what extent does the process take place, and what 

 is the subsequent fate of the elements which have been joined 

 together? This inquiry is limited to the synaptic period and 

 the stages which precede or immediately follow it. 



The urodele, Aneides (=Autodax) lugubris (Hallowell), was 

 chosen as the subject of this investigation for the following 



