PHYSIOLOGY 



91 



In Pelomyxa, Stole (1900) found that the so-called refringent bodies 

 are intimately associated with the carbohydrate metabolism in that 

 they are filled with glycogen which amount is proportionate to the 

 food matter the organism obtains. 



The members of Vampyrella (p. 330) are known to dissolve the 

 cellulose wall of algae, especially Spirogyra in order to feed on their 

 contents. Pelomyxa (Stole), Foraminifera (Schaudinn), Amoeba 

 (Rhumbler), Hypermastigina, Polymastigina (Cleveland), etc., have 

 also been known for possessing the power of cellulose digestion. 

 Many of the Hypermastigina and Polymastigina which lead symbi- 



Table 3. — Enzymes in Protozoa 



Protozoa 



Enzymes 



Observers 



Aethalium septicujn 

 Pelomyxa palustris 

 Soil amoebae 



Balantidium coli 

 Euglena gracilis 

 Glaucoma pyriformis 



Colpidium striatum 



Poly- and Hyper- 

 mastigina in wood 

 roach 



Pepsin-like enzyme, dissolving 

 albumin in acid medium 



Pepsin-like and diastatic en- 

 zymes 



"Amoebodiastase": trypsin- 

 like, active in neutral or 

 slightly alkaline medium, 

 liquefies gelatin, coagulates 

 albumin, inactive at 60°C. 



Diastatic enzyme 



Proteolytic enzyme in cultures 



Proteolytic enzyme, capable 

 of hydrolyzing casein 



Proteolytic enzyme, capable 

 of hydrolyzing casein 



Cellulase; Cellobiase 



Krukenberg 



(1886) 

 Hartog and 



Dixon (1893) 

 Mouton (1902) 



Glaessner (1908) 

 Jahn (1931) 

 Lwoff (1932) 



Elliott (1933) 



Cleveland et al. 

 (1934) 



otic life in the intestine of the termite and of the wood roach, as dem- 

 onstrated by Cleveland and his co-workers, digest by enzymes the 

 cellulose which the host insect ingests. The assimilation products 

 produced by an enormous number of these flagellates are seemingly 

 sufficient to support the protozoans as well as the host. The cili- 

 ate commensals inhabiting the stomach of ruminants also appar- 

 ently digest the cellulose, since the faecal matter as a rule does not 

 contain this substance. The digestion of fat by Protozoa had not 

 been known, although oils and fat have been observed in numerous 

 Protozoa, until Dawson and Belkin (1928) injected different oils 

 into Amoeha duhia and found that from 1.4 to 8.3 per cent of the 

 injected oil was digested. Mast (1938) noticed that the neutral fat 



