IOO 
Notes on Recent Literature. 
filamentous bodies referred to (and variously termed granula, 
bioblasts, mitochondria, cbondriomiten,chondriosomes,cl)ondriomes, 
chromidia, chromidial apparatus, sphaeroblasts, bistomeres, tropho- 
chromidia, somatocliromidia, granulocliromidia, plastosomes, plasto- 
konts, plastochondria, etc., etc.) are all essentially homologous 
structures; that they occur in the cytoplasm of probably all animal 
cells; that they play a specially important role in spermatogenesis; 
that they provide material and energy for the multifarious processes 
of metabolism, growth and differentiation of animal cells; that 
they may be either on the one hand special cytoplasmic structures 
or on the other hand chromatin extrusions from the nucleus ; that 
they act as the carriers of the hereditary qualities of the cytoplasm 
just as the chromosomes carry those of the nucleus, and that they 
thus play an important part in fertilisation and heredity. It is 
obvious that much further work is necessary before definite 
conclusions can be drawn as to the real nature of these various 
bodies and before one can really say what they are and what they do. 
Apart from Meves’s far-reaching hypothesis as to the role 
played by the chondriosomes in inheritance and the demonstration 
that they take a large share in the formation of spermatozoa, the 
chief functions assigned to animal chondriosomes are those of 
motor-organs and of nutritive bodies. For the former view stress 
has been laid on their occurrence in muscle-fibres, in the stalk of 
Vorticella and the tentacle of Noctiluca, etc.; while their frequent 
presence in glands lends support to the latter view. According to 
Regaud the chondriosomes form the mother-substance of the 
secretion-grains produced in glandular cells. Hoven found that in 
pancreas cells homogeneous filamentous chondriosomes were present 
before secretion began, and these later were transformed into chains 
of mitochondria which soon became isolated and grew into secretion- 
granules. 
Little is known concerning the chemical composition of animal 
chondriosomes. Regaud found that they consist of a protoplasmic 
ground-mass together with a substance which is soluble in alcohol 
but becomes insoluble on treatment with chromic acid; according 
to Faur^-Fremiet and others they contain a fatty acid adsorbed by 
an albuminoid ground-substance. 
As regards the origin of the chondriosomes, all that can be said 
at present is that most workers on animal chondriosomes consider 
that they are sui generis structures (“omne mitochondrium e mito- 
chondrio”), that they should be sharply distinguished from true 
chromidia arising by nuclear extrusion, and that most of the so-called 
chromidia are probably to be included under chondriosomes—the 
exact converse of Goldschmidt’s theory. 
Discovery of Chondriosomes in Plants. 
The bodies which we may here for convenience lump together 
as chondriosomes had become familiar in zoological literature long 
before they were described as occurring in plants. Their occurrence 
in vegetable cells was first described by Meves in 1904. He found 
them in the tapetum cells of young anthers of NympJuea alba, fixed 
with Flemming’s fluid and stained on the slide with Meves’ iron 
hematoxylin method. 1 He describes the tapetum cells as containing 
1 As described in Strasburger’s “ Botaniscbes Praktikum,” Aufl. 4, p. 70* 
