INI!-II\AL PROTOZOA OF TERMIM-. 217 



-olid medium \\vn- u-ed. When cellulose was the only carbohy- 

 drate pre-ent. in i growth ever occurred; but when other carbohy- 

 dr. itt--. -in h rn-e, were present a rapid growth took place. 



nn -re inf'irmation regarding the methods used in studying 

 cellule- "inpo-in^ microorganisms the reader is referred to 



\V k-niaii I'/i'i .UK! 1922'), Kellerman (1913), McBeth [913 

 and I'd'' . Brown i'M5 and 1917), Schmitz (1919), and oil'.. 

 Alter duplexing all of these methods it was concluded that no 

 cellule : ni; bacteria are harbored by Rcticiilitcr- 



Jin: . im e more than one hundred individual attempt- to 



i-"l iposing bacteria met with failure, e\en 



r the culturi < more than two months old. It was an 



matter t" such bacteria from the soil and from eo\\- 



( hip-. 



An .it tempt wa- also made to isolate cellulose decomp"-in- 

 mould- and actinor. - from termite:?, and this attempt w 



failure. '1 lii- e\|>eriment was repeated ten times with the same 

 re-ult ea< li time. 



None i'! the known cellulose-digesting Ixicteria, moulds and 

 in >m\ i t - dies at 36 C\ As a matter of fact this is the optimum 

 temporal urc for many of the-e organisms. In some install 

 tin- t ellulo-r is (lccomiM)sed much more rapidly at even a higher 

 temperature. 



Tin . ativr results indicate that Rfticitlitermes flavipes 



harbor- no bacteria, moulds or actinomycetes capable of decom- 

 |>c-in;< cellulose. 



Die most logical conclu-ion, then, from the results of all 

 tin experiments carried out. i- that the protozoa actually aid 

 tlu-ir liM-t l.\ ili-e-iin^ tlie \\....d--or more specifically by break- 

 ing up the cellulo-e niolei uK- and treeing many substances which 

 bound toit in -Mine \\a\ for it, because the host itself cannot 

 dii^e-t cellulo-e. The proto/n.i can digest cellulose. 



The relation-hip, then, between Reticnlilermes flavipes and 

 -onie of it- inte.-tinal pn>to/oa, particularly Trichonympha and 

 /' ;. / ^niymplui, i- one >i -\mbio-is. The termites are able to 

 maintain thcni-elvc- on their normal diet of wood only when 

 they harbor pnto/..a to due-t the wood for them. The protozoa 

 are harbi.ivd only when their host eats wood or the excreta of 



1 TI. . .mtain- .j,; n. [i 



