384 K. MASUI: 
show the outlines of individual spiremes distinctly (Figs. 41, 51). In the 
synapsis the nuclear wall expands rapidly and soon apparently disintegrates 
(Figs. 41, 42, 51, 52). 
The spiremes arrange themselves in a very much tangled mass of loops 
but indications of their parallel arrangement as in the horse do not appear. 
In Fig. 41 some spiremes appear to form such an arrangement, which is, 
however, to be looked upon as an incidental phenomenon, as the ends of such 
spiremes very often lie apart from each other. 
The pachytene stage :—Near the end of the synaptene stage the whole 
mass of the spiremes begin to move toward the center of the nucleus. At 
this period the spiremes appear about half the original number and fully 
twice as thick as those of the leptotene stage, while the bulk of the cell 
increases rapidly (Fig. 52). The movements of the chromatin spiremes are 
carried out further, until they fill up the nucleus thoroughly, while the nuclear 
wall becomes spherical and is more clearly defined (Fig. 44). 
Tie diplotene staye:—Following upon the pachytene stage comes the 
diplotene. At the beginning of this stage the cells increase in size, becoming 
twice as large as the telophase of the ultimate spermatogonia, and the spiremes 
stain faintly with ivon-haematoxylin, showing a granular appearance (Figs. 
44, 54) which is similar to that described by Gross* (07) in Pyrrhocoris 
apterus L. The spiremes are too convoluted to show their exact number, but it 
is most probable that they are of haploid number (Figs. 44, 45, 54). At the 
beginning of this stage the longitudinal split of chromosomes is rarely to be 
seen. 
Together with the growth of the cell the granulated spiremes gradually 
become thicker, increase their staining capacity and show distinct evidence of 
longitudinal splits (Figs. 54, 55). The careful observation of the individual 
Spireme shows that the spireme consists of large chromatin granules, and in 
its middle points a transverse constriction usually appears (Figs. 55, 56). 
But whether the constriction represents the conjugated point of two spiremes, 
or whether the condition is purely incidental, can not be determined. The 
* Gross (’07) found that in Pyrrhocoris the chromosome consists of “ Microsomen ” where 
he states: “Die Zahl der Microsomen scheint bei den größern Elementen ungefähr 8—10 zu 
betragen. Ob die Zahl aber bei allen Chromosomen -dieselbe ist, wage ich nicht zu entscheiden.” 
