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T>1 L. SOÓS 
Bolles Lee, however, holds it possible that some reduction takes 
place, not indeed during the reduction divisions, but earlier, in these 
cells which he regarded as spermatogonia. The reduction takes place 
when the half chromosomes arising from the splitting of the loops are 
again united. He holds it impossible that during conjugation those 
halves, which take their origin from the same chromosome should unite ; 
hut with the greatest probability «heterogeneous» halves conjugate, 
therefore a group of the «ids» separates from «very cell. In such a 
way «a reduction in Weismann’s sense can occur, but this reduction is 
only qualitative, and not quantitative.» 
I have already had the opportunity of showing the source of 
Bolles Lee’s error. I have mentioned that he regarded the young 
spermatocytes as spermatogonia which really have 24 chromosomes, 
and did not know the spermatogonia which have 48 chromosomes. 
As opposed to Bolles Lee, Ancel (1, 2) had already shown that 
the normal number of the chromosomes of H. jpomalia is not 24, but 
48, so many have the first germ-cells and the first blastomeres. This 
number becomes reduced during the division of the spermatogonia. 
The chromatin of the spermatogonia forms first thin loops directed to 
a determined point of the cell, the threads unite afterwards side-to- 
side, and thus the number of chromosomes becomes reduced to 24. 
I mentioned when discussing the literature that the phase of 
the division, in which according to Ancel the reduction takes place, 
is not a phase of the division of the spermatogonia, but that of the 
primary spermatocytes. Ancel’s observation is in other respects correct, 
and the reduction really takes place in those cells which he poin¬ 
ted out. 
The hypothesis that the reduction of the chromosomes must be 
led back to a parallel conjugation of the early univalent chromosomes, 
has been very often an object of discussion. We must also occupy 
ourselves with this question, because some phenomena in the develop¬ 
ment of the chromatin of H. arbustorum are so very similar to those 
of other animals interpreted in the sense of a parallel conjugation that 
we must reckon with the possibility that the reduction of the species 
in question takes place in the same way. The literature referring to 
this question is to be found comprised in several papers, therefore I 
may pass it by. 
The partisans of the hypothesis of the parallel conjugation 
(Winiwarter, Maréchal, Janssens, Bonnevie, Lérat, Stevens, Otte, 
Schleip, Vejdovsky, A. and K. E. Schreiner, etc.) claim as evidence 
the fact that the chromatin of the auxocytes at the beginning of the 
