CYTOPLASMIC INCLUSIONS 135 



of proteins and deaminization may occur in the segregation bodies. The 

 evidence of synthesis may be summarized simply as the increase in size 

 or number of segregation bodies in OpaVma when immersed in various 

 nutrient solutions, and the subsequent identification in the granules of 

 materials from this culture medium. This certainly proves the segregat- 

 ing ability, but the actual synthesis might take place almost anywhere 

 and the increase in size be due simply to the segregation of these pre- 

 formed materials. The evidence of deaminization is based on the appear- 

 ance of glycoprotein in the late stages of the segregation bodies and 

 the fact that the segregation granules are able to oxidize Rongalit white 

 vitally. This evidence could hardly be called more than suggestive, but 

 the processes which are indicated by these tests seem to be localized in 

 the segregation granules. 



The neutral red granules of Protozoa other than Opalina, to be con- 

 sidered in the rest of this section, excludes only the group which were 

 discussed above as digestive granules. It is thus essentially the group 

 called segregation apparatus by Kedrowsky (1931), or the vacuome of 

 Hall (1929 on). Since neither the history nor the function of most of 

 these granules is known, this is doubtless a heterogeneous group, but 

 I believe that further splitting at this time would merely add names 

 without increasing understanding. 



The segregation bodies are normal cytoplasmic constituents and are 

 not induced by vital dyes, since they have been observed by many in- 

 vestigators in normal, unstained specimens (Hall, 1929 on; Finley, 

 1934; MacLennan, 1933, 1936; Volkonsky, 1929 on; Kedrowsky, 1931 

 on, and others). Prolonged staining (Fig. 23), it is true, may induce 

 the formation of new granules (Kedrowsky, 1931; Cowdry and Scott, 

 1928; Nigrelli, 1929), but this is not a universal phenomenon, since 

 many species, in my own observations, show the general diffuse stain- 

 ing of the cytoplasm and nucleus characteristic of severe overstaining, 

 without the appearance of new granules. The normal origin of all types 

 of segregation granules seems to be de novo. Mast and Doyle (1935b) 

 removed most of the refractive bodies from A. proteus and observed the 

 formation of new bodies several hours after feeding. The ""blebs" on 

 the crystals likewise clearly originate de novo. These cases are too few 

 to justify any certain statements for all the many segregation granules, 

 but it is indicative that in all the many descriptions of these granules, 



