Marquette—Spore Mother-C ells of Marsilia . 
99 
the attraction between homologous chromosomes gives rise to 
diploid figures. 22 
It is to be noted that the axis of the spindle figure lies at 
right angles to the original main axis of the cell. The starch 
lies as a more or less flattened mass of oval outline to one side 
of the spindle. Rarely do any of the starch grains lie among 
the spindle fibers, or spindle fibers extend into the region of 
the starch mass. As the chromosomes collect at the poles and 
the daughter nuclei are reconstructed, a conspicuous system 
of connecting fibers develops between them. The fibers are 
heaviest at the middle and become more delicate and inter¬ 
laced as they approach the nuclei. In addition to these con¬ 
necting fibers, there is a more or less well developed system of 
polar radiations extending out from the region of the nuclei; 
as a rule these radiations are not conspicuous in the first 
division. 
During, or somewhat previous to, the telophases, definite 
and characteristic changes occur in the position of the starch 
mass. It gradually moves in between the two daughter nuclei. 
In so doing it passes around the periphery of the spindle 
faster than through the spindle itself, and as a result the 
starch mass is for a time roughly horse-shoe-shaped. In the 
cell represented in Figure 12, the starch extends almost com¬ 
pletely across the cell in the planes above and below the spindle, 
but in the plane of the spindle itself it is not halfway across. 
As the starch mass is coming in between the spindle fibers, the 
latter are disappearing. As is well known, cell division does 
not follow the first nuclear division in the spore mother-cells 
of Marsilia. The connecting fibers, however, frequently per¬ 
sist for a considerable period, and it is not uncommon to be 
able to trace them between the starch grains. The starch mass 
finally forms a relatively thin plate lying midway between the 
two daughter nuclei and extending almost to the periphery of 
the cell. It is to be noted that its plane is now at right angles 
to the position it occupied at the time of the equatorial plate 
stage and earlier. 
22 L. c., pp. 152, 155; Figs. 90, 102. 
