The argument of Wilcox is therefore directed against order in general, and not against order in any one particular, as he would have it appear. For it must be admitted that if it is possible for the scattered chromatic granules of the early prophase to arrange themselves at all (and this even Wilcox does not deny), it is equally possible for them to come together in a definite order. That they do this is amply evidenced by the fact that later they appear in definite groups or chromosomes. It is to be noted, moreover, that the later investigations tend to suggest that the apparently unorganized chromatic granules in the first spermatocyte prophase are really bound together and represent merely a diffuse condition of the spermatogonial chromosomes. Wilcox’s chief error, however, is not to be sought in speculative theories, but rather in his faulty observations. He repeatedly denies the occurrence of any longitudinal split in the chromatic thread of the first spermatocyte prophase. That he is mistaken here I am thoroughly convinced, both from a study of his own object and from investigations upon many other species of the same family. At the present time, also, practically every spermatologist is aligned in support of the view denounced by Wilcox. For a while Wilcox had some backing, but most of those who advocated only cross divisions of the thread have later been able to demonstrate the longitudinal cleavage in better prepared material. There is general acceptance of the opinion that the chromomeres of the last secondary spermatogonia appear in a linear arrangement to form what is commonly known as the “spireme.” Wilcox declared that while in a very fine condition this thread breaks across into segments, which unite by pairs to form the chromosomes of the first spermatocyte. The great majority of other investigators are unanimous in the opinion that this fine thread, made up of granules, becomes double by the division of each granule individually, thus producing a double thread. Thus it is that the two halves of a longitudinally divided chromosome are made equivalent, not by the sifting apart of preexisting granules, but by the division of these after they are arranged in a linear series. It need hardly be mentioned that the formation of the thread has here a reason for existence which is entirely lacking according to Wilcox’s scheme.