1 66 COMPARATIVE ANATOMY 



may be one only, or several, as in Euglena viridis, and when 

 there are several they contract in succession. The reservoir 

 into which they discharge is in connection with the hirider 

 end of the so-called gullet, and slowly empties its contents into 

 it. Euglena viridis, if kept sufficiently long under observa- 

 tion, may be seen to multiply by binary division, the plane of 

 division always passing through the long axis of the body. 

 Transverse division has never been observed in any species 

 of Euglena. The division of the body begins at the anterior, 

 and passes gradually to the posterior end, so that in the middle 

 of the process one sees two organisms joined together, and it 

 would be difficult to say, if one did not follow it to the end, 

 whether there were two individuals conjugating or one in- 

 dividual dividing. Division of the cell-body is accompanied 

 by division of the nucleus, which goes through a peculiar form 

 of mitosis. It has already been said that the nucleus lies 

 nearer the posterior end of the body, that it is of oval shape, 

 and contains in its centre a body generally described as a 

 nucleolus ; but, as its behaviour differs from that of an ordinary 

 nucleolus, it will be best to call it by a special name — viz. the 

 nucleocentrosome. The nucleocentrosome itself stains -in- 

 tensely with certain aniline dyes, but not with those which 

 ordinarily stain chromatin, and thus it can easily be differenti- 

 ated from the true chromosomes, which are rod-like structures 

 arranged radially around it, and are so small and so numer- 

 ous that they cannot be counted. A nuclear membrane 

 is present. Preparatory to division the nucleocentrosome 

 elongates and becomes dumb-bell-shaped, and the chromosomes 

 are at first disposed with regard to it like the barbs of a feather 

 to its axis. Eventually, as the nucleocentrosome continues to 

 elongate, the chromosomes come to lie parallel with it, and 

 when it assumes the shape shown in fig. 35, C, they are collected 

 in a ring round the middle of the fine thread which connects 

 its now swollen ends. At this stage the chromosomes split 

 longitudinally, and eventually their halves separate and travel 

 to the opposite ends of the nucleocentrosome. The thread 

 connecting the two ends of the latter then breaks, the whole 

 nucleus divides, and the chromosomes take up a resting position 

 around the two new nucleocentrosomes. The whole process 

 of mitosis goes on inside the nuclear membrane, as is usual in 

 Protozoa, and the nucleocentrosome appears to take the 



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