=680. The chromatin skein.=—One of the first nuclear figures in the preparatory stages of division is the chromatin _skein_ or _spirem_. The chromatin substance unites to form this. The spirem is in the form of a narrow continuous ribbon, or band, woven into an irregular skein, or gnarl, as shown in figure 405. This band splits longitudinally into two narrow ones, and then each divides into a definite number of segments, about eight in the case of podophyllum. Sometimes the longitudinal splitting of the band appears to take place after the separation into the chromatin segments. The segments remain in pairs until they separate at the nuclear plate. [Illustration: Fig. 407. Karyokinesis in pollen mother cells of podophyllum. At the left the spindle with the chromosomes separating at the nuclear plate; in the middle figure the chromosomes have reached the poles of the spindle, and at the right the chromosomes are forming the daughter nuclei. (After Mottier.)] =681. Chromosomes, nuclear plate, and nuclear spindle.=—Each one of these rod-like chromatin segments is a _chromosome_. The pairs of chromosomes arrange themselves in a median plane of the nucleus, radiating somewhat in a stellate fashion, forming the _nuclear plate_, or _monaster_. At the same time threads of the protoplasm (kinoplasm) become arranged in the form of a spindle, the axis of which is perpendicular to the nuclear plate of chromosomes, as shown in figure 407, at left. Each pair of chromosomes now separate in the line of the division of the original spirem, one chromosome of each pair going to one pole of the spindle, while the other chromosome of each pair goes to the opposite pole. The chromosomes here unite to form the daughter nuclei. Each of these nuclei now divide as shown in figure 409 (whether the chromosomes in this second division in the mother cell split longitudinally or divide transversely has not been definitely settled), and four nuclei are formed in the pollen mother cell. The protoplasm about each one of these four nuclei now surrounds itself with a wall and the spores are formed. [Illustration: Fig. 408. Different stages in the separation of divided U-shaped chromosomes at the nuclear plate. (After Mottier.) In podophyllum.] [Illustration: Fig. 409. Second division of nuclei in pollen mother cell of podophyllum, chromosomes at poles.] [Illustration: Fig. 410. Chromosomes uniting at poles to form the nuclei of the four spores. (After Mottier.)]