180 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
place precisely similar to the Knockanes bog has yet been found in the 
neighbourhood. 
Laboratory cultures were next tried—Amwbe, with mud from the 
Knockanes bog to serve as food, were placed in a small aquarium fitted with 
a simple apparatus! for supplying well-aerated tap-water to the culture. 
The aeration had a wonderfully refreshing effect on the Amwbe which 
could easily be obtained from the culture in ever-increasing numbers. — 
Before the end of the summer, however, they died down, presumably from 
insufficient food-supply. 3 
These laboratory experiments cleared the ground for the discovery of a 
natural source. Towards the end of the same summer a tributary of the 
Allander Water, in one particular place, was noticed. This part of the stream 
seemed to repeat the conditions of the “Rowland” apparatus on a large 
scale, but with the additional advantage of a constant renewal of food 
material. 
The tributary is an outlet from Loch Tannoch (Milngavie), a stagnant 
pond containing much decayiug organic matter. In the particular place 
investigated the stream, which has a stony bed and is fairly rapid above this 
point, widens out into a sort of basin or pond with an almost level bottom, 
and in this pond much of the organic débris carried by the stream from the 
loch is deposited. There is no water-weed—the floor of this basin being of 
mud (sand and clay) overlaid with débris. The débris is, however, constantly 
washed, and constantly augmented by the water of the stream which, on 
leaving this pond-like expansion of its bed, tumbles over the stones banking 
it in at its distal end, and making thus a little waterfall, continues its course 
to the Allander. The mud in this part of the stream, containing as it 
does decaying organic matter and therefore microscopic plants and small 
flagellates in abundance, corresponded to the lower part of the “ Rowland” 
apparatus. The ever-flowing water, which leaves the débris more or less 
undisturbed (7.e. the stream is not muddy), plays the same role in the 
oxygenation of the mud as was played by the tap-water of the said apparatus, 
The “site” seemed promising. An examination? of a specimen tube of this 
mud, made in August 1917, showed Amebw present in sufficiently large 
numbers to be of practical service for class purposes. 
In the November of that year Libbie H. Hyman’s method of Amewba 
‘This apparatus was devised by Fr. Rowland, 8.J., B.Sc., at the suggestion of 
Sr. Bernardine, who very kindly placed it at my disposal. 
2 This examination is most quickly made over a dark background with the lowest power 
of a binocular microscope, when the whole Amebe content of a solid watch-glass can be 
easily surveyed. With a fine pipette the Amebe can easily be transferred singly from 
the solid watch-glass to the slide, . 
