Nuclear Phenomena in the Smuts. 
481 
pecially when it is desired to preserve the interior structure of 
the bacterial cells. As Fisher 1 has recently pointed out, bac¬ 
teria mounted according to current methods are likely to be 
plasmolyzed and frequently distorted. 
The disadvantage of the presence of the albumen film in stain¬ 
ing is very slight. If it has not been made too thick it is al¬ 
ways decolorized in washing out stains before the cells are. In the 
case of heavy coarse spores I have sometimes found it necessary 
to drop 80 per cent, alcohol on the slide at once after stippling 
it with the spore containing droplets, in order to complete at 
once the coagulation of the albumen and prevent the possibility 
of the spores being washed away in the weaker grades of alco¬ 
hol. This latter modification can of course be resorted to only 
in cases where the cells are not injured by the comparatively 
sudden transition from an aqueous solution to 80 per cent, al¬ 
cohol. I find, however, that spores while still in such fixing 
solutions as Flemming’s, are much more resistant and rigid than 
after washing in water, and will generally stand rapid transi¬ 
tions into alcohol with no change. 
Washing out the acid fixing solution, which is such an im¬ 
portant feature in fixing blocks of tissue, can here be entirely 
omitted. The cells are so small that they are sufficiently washed 
in passing through the grade alcohols. 
If we turn now to the nuclear phenomena in the germinating 
spore, we find that in the case of U. scabiosa the promycelium 
pushes out without nuclear divisions having yet taken place in 
the spore. The nucleus wanders out of the spore and is to be 
found in the promycelium when it has reached one-third its 
mature length (Fig. 1). 
When the promycelium is full grown the nucleus lies near its 
middle. It can be very easily studied at this stage and, when 
prepared with Flemming’s triple stain, shows a sharply differen¬ 
tiated, blue stained chromatin net lying in a clear nuclear sap, 
a red stained nucleole, and a bounding membrane. The nucleus 
now divides. The figure is too minute for study of the process 
1 “ Die Plasmolyse der Bakterien,” Sitzb. d. kgl. Sachs. Ges.-Wiss., 
Math. Nat. CL, 1891, and “ Unters. u. Bakt.,” Jahrb. f. Wiss. Bot., 
XXVII. 
