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j 
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q 
1900] THE CELL PLATE IN HIGHER PLANTS 95 
relation is such as to indicate that the two fibers have fused 
laterally throughout a part of their length. Whether such a 
fusion is real or only apparent, I could not determine A care- 
ful study of the preparation from which the photograph for jig. 
2 was made shows all stages in the arrangement of radiating fibers, 
from that shown in fig. 26 to that in which the fibers extend out 
into the cytoplasm and cross at the equator in such a way as to 
form sharp angles (fig. 2g). The significance of these facts I 
shall discuss in a later connection. The radiating fibers that do 
not cross at the equator, so far as I could determine, have 
suffered no appreciable change. It is important to keep in 
mind that, with the exception of the presence of the trophoplas- 
mic granules, the changes in the appearance of the spindle 
which have so far taken place in the larch are due mainly to 
changes in the existing spindle fibers themselves, and not to 
the addition of new fibers or of other material. 
If we turn now to the onion, we note that there is an appar- 
ent increase in the number of connecting fibers (figs. 12, 73, 14). 
fig. 13 represents the same stage in the onion as that repre- 
sented by fig. 2 in the larch. The slight differentiation of the 
spindle into zones may be seen. While the smaller number of 
Spindle fibers renders such a differentiation less conspicuous, it is 
evident that it is caused in the same fashion as in the larch. A 
fact of importance to note here is that there are now visible 
more radiating fibers than could be seen in earlier stages. The 
photograph has not brought these out very clearly, but they 
may be seen by close inspection. These fibers radiate in all 
directions from the nuclei, but those are more abundant which 
“xtend toward the equator. In this connection it may be worth 
while to point out that these new fibers do not bear exactly the 
Same relation to the spindle as the radiating fibers that exist in 
the “quatorial plate stage. Those were centered not on the 
nuclei or chromosomes but upon the poles of the spindle. It is 
Possible, however, that they were originally centered upon the 
mother nucleus, as previously suggested. From a careful com- 
Parison of this with earlier stages, I am convinced that there 
