The Reduction of the Chromosomes in the 
Sexual Cells as described by Botanists : 
A reply to Professor Strasburger. 
BY 
Dr. VALENTIN HAECKER, 
Zoological Institute , Freiburg-im-Breisgau. 
I N a paper communicated to the British Association 
(Oxford Meeting, August, 1894) 1 Professor Strasburger 
attempts, first, to prove that in plants the reduction of the 
number of the chromosomes takes place at a certain point of 
the generative cell-cycle ; and, secondly, to throw light upon 
the phylogenetic origin of that phenomenon. Convinced that 
there must be a close parallelism between animals and plants, 
Strasburger has extended his conclusions even to zoological 
territory, and generalized some of his theses in this direction. 
Undoubtedly such a generalization must be the goal which 
we strive to reach ; but in the first place let us see if the facts 
brought before us by zoological and botanical observers 
harmonize when carefully examined. Considering the great 
interest which is accorded to this subject by English botanists, 
1 Compare : E. Strasburger, The Periodic Reduction of the number of the 
Chromosomes in the Life-History of Living Organisms, Ann. of Bot., Vol. viii, 
No. XXXI, 1894 ; Uber periodische Reduktion der Chromosomenzahl im Entwick- 
lungsgang der Organismen, Biol. Centralbl., Vol. xiv, Nos. 23 and 24, 1894. 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. IX. No. XXXIII. March, 1895.] 
