160 Samuels.—A Pathological A?iatomical Study of 
The first part of the publication will deal only with actual observa¬ 
tions, while in the second part an effort will be made to discuss the different 
phenomena regarding the presence of several nuclei in a single cell, the cell 
fusions, the nuclear fusions, the formation of the crystal colonies, and, finally, 
the end of living conditions in such hypertrophied cells. 
II. Technique. 
The material for the investigation was collected in the Botanical 
Garden, Paris. A portion was fixed in a solution of chromo-acetic acid and 
another portion in 96 per cent, alcohol. It has been found that better 
results could be obtained from the material treated with alcohol. Further¬ 
more, it may be stated that the best results were secured with sections 
stained by Heidenhain’s haematoxylin. Triple staining, according to 
Flemming, has also been applied with good results for the early stages, but 
not so successfully with the later stages. 
Young leaves are better for the study of cell and nuclear fusion than 
leaves advanced in growth. 
After the use of the Heidenhain method of staining, where the sections 
were left in a solution of ferric ammonium sulphate during the night, the 
raphid needles were dissolved so that thereafter the crystals themselves 
could not be seen even with the polarization apparatus. There remained 
but an empty space bounded by the plasma membrane which surrounded 
the needles. The crystals in the cells of sections stained by the triple 
staining method of Flemming, however, remained intact. 
The sections were cut 12 microns thick and the figures were made with 
the Abbe drawing apparatus. 
III. The Formation of a Cyst. 
The cysts were first observed and most thoroughly studied in the 
perianth of Anthurium scandens and A. Schei'zerianuin . Later they 
were found also in other floral organs, in the stems and roots, and the 
embryo of both specimens. 
The development of the cysts is indicated by the increase of the proto¬ 
plasm masses and the enlargement of the nuclei of two neighbouring cells. 
For the time being an attempt to examine this process microscopically has 
yielded no results. 
The cause of the hypertrophy of one of the two isolated cells can 
probably be attributed to physico-chemical causes, because large cell com¬ 
plexes in the parenchymatous tissue mentioned above are involved. Since 
the parenchymatous cells of a given region are anatomically and function¬ 
ally similar, we would perhaps again attribute such a phenomenon to 
bacterial origin, but thus far no bacteria could be discovered in the cells. 
