epiphyseal plate the thin plate of cartilage between the epiphysis and the shaft of a long bone; it is the site of growth in length and is obliterated by epiphyseal closure. equatorial plate the collection of chromosomes at the equator of the spindle in mitosis.
howell-jolly body. n. A spherical granule often observed in the stroma of a red blood cell, especially after a splenectomy.
Published: January 4, 1990. Alan Hale Jr., an actor who gained fame as the jolly Skipper in the television series ''Gilligan's Island,'' died of cancer of the thymus on Tuesday at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 71 years old and lived in Hollywood.