492 Dig by.— Observations on ‘ Chromatin Bodies' and their 
a rule at full synapsis, stains uniformly and resembles a heap of tightly 
compressed wood chips in which no structure can be seen. Sometimes in 
a superficial section it is possible to recognize the linin matrix with more 
deeply staining patches of chromatin embedded in its substance. In such 
a section favourably stained with Breinl’s method the chromatin is coloured 
purple, the linin blue, and the nucleolus yellow. The spherical nucleolus, 
more or less hidden by the synaptic knot (PI. XXXIII, Fig. 4), projects 
into the clear nuclear cavity. In exceptional cases two nucleoli are present 
(PL XXXIII, Fig. 6). There is no definite nuclear wall, the nucleus being 
bounded by cytoplasmic fibrils. 
The ‘ chromatic bodies ’ may originate either from the nuclear frame- 
work (PI. XXXIII, Figs. 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 )> or from the nucleolus (PL XXXIII, 
Figs. 7, It is not uncommon to find both modes of origin proceeding 
simultaneously in the same nucleus (PL XXXIII, Fig. 9). 
Origin of ‘Bodies’ from the Synaptic Knot. 
At synapsis buds are seen to be given off from the knot, often from 
a part in close proximity to the nucleolus (PL XXXIII, Figs. 4, 5, 6). 
These buds become round, or pear-shaped, and are composed of linin in 
which chromatin of varying amount and density is carried (Pl. XXXIII, 
Figs. 5 and 6). They arise from the knot in many different ways. Some- 
times large pieces round themselves off, and separate in part from the 
general mass (PL XXXIII, Fig. 4) ; or finger-like portions protrude (PL 
XXXIII, Fig. 2) ; or a piece of the linin matrix may escape from the 
general tangle (Fig. 6), and this gradually takes up a chromatin stain and 
becomes modified to form a ‘ body ’ ; or rounded globules of eu-nucleolar 
substance (Fig. 3) may escape from the knot, apparently independently of 
the nucleolus, these by degrees show a * chromatic ’ staining reaction, and 
become ‘ chromatin bodies In whatever way the buds originate, they 
always remain in connexion with the ‘ chromatic ’ portion of the parent 
nucleus (PL XXXIII, Fig. 4), and this connexion is retained until the final 
disintegration of the ‘body’. As each ‘body'’ becomes differentiated, it 
draws out with it as a long thick process, that portion of the knot to which 
it is attached (PI. XXXIII, Figs. 6 , 10). Gradually the ‘body’ moves 
away, and the process, in response to the continuous strain exerted on its 
viscous substance, becomes pulled out into a fine thread (Pl. XXXIII, Fig. 4). 
Having separated themselves from the synaptic knot, the ‘ bodies ’ pass 
through the clear nuclear space (PL XXXIII. Fig. 4), and the surrounding 
cytoplasm (PL XXXIII, Fig. 4). They may, and often do, penetrate the 
cell-wall (PL XXXIII, Figs. 5, 6), and enter an adjacent cell (PL XXXIII, 
Figs. 5, 6). There is no evidence to show that the ‘ bodies ’ secrete a fer- 
ment which dissolves the wall. Their passage leaves no trace, the hole 
