1212 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
figures (15 and 16), a single large mass is often found. This 
plastid in Phycomyces does not resemble very closely the large 
plastid found in the mature zygospores of Sporodinia, but it un¬ 
doubtedly functions in the same way. In Sporodinia the large 
plastid is finely granular and appears delicately reticulate. 
In PJiycomyces its protoplasmic nature is not as evident. It is 
coarsely reticulate and even alveolate. It appears as if the 
protoplasm, when once saturated with oil, loses its granular ap¬ 
pearance and may even deliquesce. 
The large protein masses do not resemble the oil plastids 
either in color or in consistency in the prepared sections. In 
figure 16, the disorganized nuclei have not as yet become co¬ 
alesced as they do somewhat later, as shown in figure 17. The 
amount of oil apparently becomes somewhat reduced in the older 
zygospores. The proportional amount of each substance varies 
in different zygospores. 
Nuclei of the original typical form can be found throughout 
all the different stages described above. They stain somewhat 
differently, depending on the age of the zygospores. They are 
much reduced in number in the older zygospores but are still 
plentiful enough to be evident in many places. 
There are several points which emphasize the fact that nuclear 
disorganizations take place. The one just mentioned, namely, 
that there is a marked reduction in the number of nuclei pres¬ 
ent in the mature zygospore, is the most important; secondly, 
the nuclear disorganization exactly parallels in appearance the 
conditions found in the suspensors, where there is no question 
concerning the occurrence of both nuclear and cytoplasmic dis¬ 
integration. Swingle (1903) has described nuclear disorgani¬ 
zations in the sporangia of both RJiizopus nigricans and PJiy¬ 
comyces nitens as follows: The first sign of disintegration is 
tJie appearance of a red-staining mass on one side. As tJie pro¬ 
cess goes on, tJie wJiole nucleus comes to appear as a slightly 
shrunken, homogeneous mass, often irregular in shape, and 
staining the same shade of red as the crystalloids. It might be 
argued that these red-staining bodies are crystalloids whose sub¬ 
stance is being dissolved but I have very good evidence that such 
is not the case. * # * There are all stages of disintegration 
between the almost perfect nuclei and the most shrunken ones. 
Aside from these facts, on any conception of a nuclear- 
