[
1960]
I would like to introduce my lecture on this subject with a brief consideration of meiosis in the female. The oogonial cells in the anterior part of the ovary in a nematode are small and multiply by mitosis. As they move down the ovary they increase in size with corresponding increase in the size of the nucleus. The chromatin is a single spherical mass located in the center of the nucleus. Eventually the chromatin mass is resolved into individual chromosomes. During prophase of meiosis the homologous chromosomes come together. All diploid cells possess identical chromosomes with the exception of the sex chromosomes and at synapsis these homologous chromosomes pair or come together. Paternal and maternal gametes each contribute a complement of identical chromosomes.