38 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JANUARY 
it does not become a complete fission (fig. 19). This is without 
doubt a genuine splitting preparatory for the homotypic mitosis. 
As the first division is merely a separation of chromosomes, the 
true mitosis being deferred until the second division, it is not sur- 
prising that the fully formed chromosomes exhibit a tendency to 
fission, the normal consequence of a mature condition in meriste- 
matic cells, long before actual mitosis is permitted to take place. 
FARMER (13) expressed a similar idea when he said ‘with the in- 
ception of karyokinetic activity the spireme thread undergoes the 
longitudinal fission characteristic of ordinary somatic division, 
although the actual separation of these longitudinal halves is 
deferred until the next mitosis.”’ 
The separation of the chromosomes at the equator and their 
passage to the poles takes place in the usual manner. Frequently 
the chromosomes of one or more pairs separate and move away 
from the equator earlier than the majority (figs. 17, 18). 
INTERKINESIS.—At the telophase the chromatic elements 
appear in the form of a spireme which is disposed about the pe- 
riphery of the newly formed nuclear membrane. The daughter 
nuclei are usually elliptical, though sometimes they are slightly 
curved, presenting a concave surface toward the equatorial plate. 
Miyake (28) finds in Lilium Martagon a partial formation of a 
thread, but usually there is little change in the form of the chromo- 
somes during interkinesis. In Smilax herbacea the split which was 
observed in the metaphase and anaphase, homotypic in nature, 
is sometimes faintly discernible, but usually lost to view. Vacuola- 
tion of the chromatin band, if it may be said to occur at all, is 
very slight. In fact, the transitory character of this phase does 
not call for extensive alveolization. We have here in reality a 
prophase of the homotypic division. Grécorre (17) describes 
the heterotypic division as a process intercalated in the prophase 
of the homotypic division. 
Conditions reported during interkinesis vary in different plants. 
In Oenothera gigas, according to Davis (9), the daughter chromo- 
somes maintain their form and distinctly show the homotypic 
split, thus giving an appearance similar to diakinesis. GarTEs (16), 
describing the same species, states that some of the chromosomes 
