The composition of binary and ternary eutectics of homologous, nematic p,p′-disubstituted benzylideneanilines, the specifically staggered arrangement of molecules in crystals of anisaldazine-. ρ,ρ'-azodiphenetole and p-azoxyanisole, and NMR-investigations in p,p′-di-n-hexyloxyazoxybenzene lead to the suggestion that, under certain circumstances, nematic liquid crystals can enter into a short range order consisting not of individual molecules but of molecular strands of different lengths, each built up of three individual molecular chains having probably a head-to-tail sequence and turned by 180° with respect to each other. We designate such a liquid crystalline state of order as a nematic secondary structure.