/ 



1907] BURLING AM E-^SPORANGJUM OF OPHIOGLOSSALES 45 



asm 



phases of development, except that it is somewhat denser, especially 

 around the nucleus. The synaptic knot is usually so closely massed 

 that the course of the individual thread or threads cannot be followed 

 for any great distance. The figure was drawn from one of the most 

 diffuse knots in a section lo /u- thick. The chromatin seems to consist 

 of a single row of granules strung along a continuous much tangled 

 thread. The thread could not be determined to be continuous by 



made 



m 



The same 



is true of other knots. In the early stages the thread is extraordi- 

 narily long and thin, long enough nearly to fill the nucleus with its 



than o . 2 ;-o . c; u thick. The thread 



more 



oreaks up mto very long slender chromosomes, which may have 

 almost any shape from nearly straight to intricately bent and twisted. 

 A somewhat later stage is shown in jig. lo, where the chromo- 

 somes have shortened by one-half or more and have become 

 correspondingly thicker. In the figure no attempt has been made to 

 represent all the chromosomes in the nucleus, but only those whose 

 shape and position could be made out clearly. The drawing was made 

 from a section in which the knife has passed almost exactly through 

 the center of the nucleus, and the cut side of the nucleus lies up. 

 This gives a clearer field, but has the disadvantage that some of the 

 chromosomes are cut in two. More than sixty chromosomes are 

 shown in the drawing of this half-nucleus. Attempts were made to 

 count the chromosomes at this stage, in the stage shown in the next 

 figure, in polar views of the second division, and elsewhere, but with- 

 out success. The number exceeds loo, but probably does not reach 

 1 20 for the gametophytic tissues. The chromosomes continue short- 

 ening and thickening until they reach the shape and size shown in 

 f'g' II. The nuclei have their 



maximum 



iameter 



Dui-ing the development of the chromosomes the wall remains thm 

 and stains lightly, as in previous stages. The cytoplasm, however, has 



so mew 



late. There appear in it about this time certain oval bodies staining 



very intensely with Haidenhain 



