SOME EFFECTS OF THE LOWER ALCOHOLS ON 



PARAMECIUM. 1 



CHARLES E. BILLS, 

 ZOOLOGICAL LABORATORY OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 



General Investigators of the protozoa do not agree as to 

 the influence of abnormal environment. For example, Matheny 

 (1910) states that alcohol in doses of two per cent, or less "has 

 no effect whatever " on Paramecium, while Calkins and Lieb 

 (1902), and Woodruff (1908), working with doses many times 

 more dilute report marked, but dissimilar effects. 



In the present studies considerable variation in the deportment 

 of individual paramecia from a given clone was noted, which 

 indicates that some of the factors of error in the quantitative 

 study of Paramecium are obscure, and not easy of control. As 

 Towle (1904) observes, 'The sensitiveness of paramecia for 

 different substances varies without apparent regularity." Never- 

 theless it was found possible in the following experiments to 

 obtain results of significance by counting great numbers of 

 organisms, observing strict chemical cleanliness, and confining 

 most of the experiments to dormant cultures of pure stocks. 



Cultures Pure lines of Paramecium caudatinn and Para- 

 mccium aurelia were cultivated in battery jar infusions consist- 

 ing of about 25 grams of timothy hay per liter of spring water. 

 These were twice boiled to insure the destruction of rotifers. 

 After about a month from the date of preparation the cultures 

 entered upon a prolonged stage of dormancy during which little 

 detectable change occurred until starvation was evidenced by an 

 abrupt decline. Except where otherwise noted, only organism? 

 from the dormant cultures were studied. 



No attempt was made at bacterial control. However, in one 

 culture a mixture of B. lactis aerogenes and a bacillus of the 



1 Abbreviated excerpts from an essay presented to The Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 

 (Bills, 19230). A previous publication (Bills, 1923^) containing other ex- 

 cerpts should be consulted. 



253 



