MORPHOLOGY OF INVERTEBRATE 

 TYPES 



PARAM^ECIUM CAUDATUM Ehrenberg 



Material. Paramsecium caudatum may be obtained easily 

 in immense quantities from hay infusions inoculated a few days 

 before the exercise. Fixation, staining and washing may be 

 accomplished without difficulty by the use of a centrifuge. The 

 stained specimens are then transferred gradually into 95% 

 alcohol, picked up with a fine pipette and squirted onto a slide 

 covered with a thin layer of glycerine-albumen. The slide may 

 be finished in the usual manner. Live Protozoa are found in 

 any aquarium prepared for the purpose some two weeks in ad- 

 vance. It is advisable to use mud from the bottom of various 

 pools and to put it into separate dishes. I have obtained excel- 

 lent cultures of Amoeba several times from infusions of horse 

 manure. 



Every student should receive a small aquarium with live 

 Protozoa, a small flask with hay infusion containing Para- 

 mjEcium, and prepared slides of Paramaecium stained in Iron 

 Haematoxylin. 



Descriptive Part 



Paramsecium caudatum is one of the best known Protozoa 

 and occurs all over the world in fresh water pools. It belongs 

 to the Class CILIATA characterized by the presence of cilia 

 which function as organs of locomotion. Compared with an 

 Amoeba, Paramsecium is a highly differentiated creature. Yet 

 it has none of the organs characteristic of higher animals. Its 



