34 ELEMENTARY ZOOLOGY 



The Slipper Animalcule (Paramcccium sp.) TECHNICAL 

 NOTE. Paramcecia can be secured in most pond water where 

 leaves or other vegetation are decaying. However, if specimens 

 are not readily secured place some hay or finely cut dry clover in a 

 glass dish, cover with water and leave in the sun for several days. 

 In this mixture specimens will develop by thousands. Place a drop 

 of water containing Paramcecia on a slide with cover-glass over it. 

 Using a low power, note the many small animals darting hither and 

 thither in the field. Run a thin mixture of cherry gum in water 

 under the cover-glass. In this mixture they can be kept more quiet 

 and be better studied. 



How does Paramcccium (fig. 6) differ from Amoeba in 

 form and movement ? Has the body an anterior and a 

 posterior end ? The delicate, short, thread-like processes, 

 on the surface of the body, which beat about very rapidly 

 in the water are called cilia, and they^are simply fine 

 prolongations of the body protoplasm. ^What is their 

 function ? Note a fine cuticle covering the body. Note 

 also many minute oval sacs lying side by side in the 

 ectosarc. These are called trichocysts and from each a 

 fine thread can be thrust out. 



Note on one side, beginning at the anterior end, the 

 buccal groove leading into the interior through the gullet. 

 Observe also that by the action of the cilia in the buccal 

 groove food-particles are swept into the gullet. Rejected 

 or waste particles are ejected from the body occasionally. 

 Where ? Note about midway of the Paramcecium an 

 ovoid body with a smaller oval one attached to its side, 

 the forme^ being the macronucleus, the latter the micro- 

 uuclcus. Note that there are two contractile vacuoles in 

 the Paramcccium; also that the food-vacuoles have a 

 definite course in their movement inside the endosarc. 



Make a drawing of a Paramcccium. 



In comparing Paramcccium vyith Amccba it is apparent 

 that the body of the first is less simple than that of the 

 second. The definite opening for the ingress of food, the 

 two nuclei, the fixed cilia, and the definite cell-wall giving 



