Planar iidae 15 1 



GEOCENTROPHORA APPLANATUS 



William A. Kepner, University of Virginia 



THIS member of the group Alloeocoela may be cultured in spring 

 water to every 200 cc. of which 5 cc. of wheat infusion has been 

 added. (Wheat infusion: 10 seeds wheat in 250 cc. spring water. Boiled 

 one minute. Set aside for one wee*. This infusion may be used there- 

 after for two months.) 



The specimens have been fed with food described by Margaret Sans- 

 low in the Bull, of Averett College (Danville, Va.), Vol. 1, No. 4, IQ35-* 

 To a small dish containing 205 cc. of water there has been added as 

 much food as will cling to the moist tip of a very small scalpel. This 

 food is cut into very short lengths and then ground in a depression slide 

 with the rounded end of a small glass rod, after which it is placed in the 

 culture dish. The specimens will find this food within fifteen minutes 

 if it is not widely distributed. 



Order tricladida, Family planariidae 



CULTURE OF PLANARIA [=EUPLANARIA] AGILIS 



Rosalind Wulzen, Oregon State College and 

 Alice M. Bahrs, St. Helen's Hall Junior College 



PLANARIA for use in nutrition experiments are collected in the 

 field by placing small lumps of fresh liver in shallow water at the 

 edges of ponds or streams where they are known to be present. They 

 gather on the liver in a short time and may be rinsed off into collecting 

 jars. They should not be crowded in the jars or they will be dead before 

 the laboratory is reached. Likewise, they should not be crowded in the 

 laboratory containers. For stock containers we use white enameled 

 milk pans, because in these the worms may easily be inspected to deter- 

 mine their condition. A city water supply containing chlorine is not 

 to be trusted. For some time it may appear to be harmless but when 

 one observes that the worms are more restless than usual, that is, all the 

 worms in a container are in motion for an extended period of time, 

 one should suspect that the tap water contains too much chlorine. The 

 restless stage is followed by one in which the worms secrete large quan- 

 tities of mucus and roll away from contact with the container. They 

 gather in writhing masses and will disintegrate if they are not put into 



♦Editor's Note: This food consists of shrimp, corn flakes, shredded wheat, lettuce, 

 spinach, and sea lettuce. These last two ingredients are dried quickly in a flower press. 

 All the materials are separately powdered to medium grains with mortar and pestle and 

 mixed together in amounts such as to provide 50% protein, 31% carbohydrates, 2% 

 fats, 12% minerals, and 5% bulk by volume. M. E. D. 



