HETEROKARYOTA

heterokaryota, a zoological name proposed by s. j. hickson for the infusoria (q.v.) on the ground of the differentiation of their nuclear apparatus into meganucleus and micronucleus (or nuclei). see lankester's _treatise of zoology_, vol. i. fasc. 1 (1903). heteronomy (from gr. [greek: heteros] and [greek: nomos], the rule of another), the state of being under the rule of another person. in ethics the term is specially used as the antithesis of "autonomy," which, especially in kantian terminology, treats of the true self as will, determining itself by its own law, the moral law. "heteronomy" is therefore applied by kant to all other ethical systems, inasmuch as they place the individual in subjection to external laws of conduct. hetman (a polish word, probably derived from the ger. _hauptmann_, head-man or captain; the russian form is _ataman_), a military title formerly in use in poland; the _hetman wielki_, or great hetman, was the chief of the armed forces of the nation, and commanded in the field, except when the king was present in person. the office was abolished in 1792. from poland the word was introduced into russia, in the form _ataman_, and was adopted by the cossacks, as a title for their head, who was practically an independent prince, when under the suzerainty of poland. after the acceptance of russian rule by the cossacks in 1654, the post was shorn of its power. the title of "ataman" or "hetman of all the cossacks" is held by the cesarevitch. "ataman" or "hetman" is also the name of the elected elder of the _stanitsa_, the unit of cossack administration. (see cossacks.)