372 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



testimony, for it is an evidence either of careless work or of 

 the influence of preconceptions. I can recall with what diffi- 

 culty I persuaded myself, against the current conceptions of 

 chromosome numbers, that the spermatogonial number of 

 chromosomes is odd in the Orthoptera, and I can easily under- 

 stand the temptation, in an early stage of an investigation, to 

 seek concordance with accepted opinions. The investigators 

 who reported even numbers for their material did so when all 

 the evidence from other forms seemed to demonstrate the uni- 

 versality of this phenomenon. In a sense their testimony is 

 more valuable after a restudy of their material, because it in- 

 dicates the desire to arrive at facts regardless of consequences. 

 It is a very unusual man, or a very stubborn one, who finds no 

 occasion to change his opinions. 



This is the present status of the question concerning the 

 spermatogonial number of chromosomes in Anasa. If it is im- 

 possible for the interested cytologist to come to a conclusion re- 

 garding the facts of the case from the studies so far made, he is 

 quite at liberty to undertake an investigation for himself and 

 I have no doubt but that all the material that has been avail- 

 able for my investigation will be placed at his disposal. 



There appears to be no dispute regarding the oogonial num- 

 ber, although the counts in these cells have been less numerous 

 than in those of the male. So far as the opportunity has 

 offered I have gone over the female complex of chromosomes, 

 and I have no reason to doubt that the number is twenty-two, 

 as determined by Wilson. 



3. What is the number of first spermatocyte chromosomes? 

 Regarding the number of first spermatocyte chromosomes, 

 there seems to be no difference of opinion, since every observer 

 has recorded eleven as typical for this generation. The clear- 

 ness with which the chromosomes of the first maturation mito- 

 sis appear in the equatorial plate almost precludes the possi- 

 bility of error. Here also may be found a close adherence to a 

 type of arrangement which presents the small chromosome in 

 the center, surrounded by a more or less regular ring of nine 

 chromosomes upon the outside of which is placed the accessory 

 chromosome. This is not an invariable arrangement, for it is 

 a culmination of the movements of the chromosomes in the pro- 

 phase where the elements bear somewhat similar relations to 

 each other, but it appears in a large proportion of the cells. 



