Quantitative Studies on the Ciliate Glaucoma. Excretion of Ammonia

Abstract

The ciliate, Glaucoma, was cultured under conditions affording large populations uniform in relation to size, division rate, feeding rate and metabolic activity. The nitrogen entering the organism, the excretion of ammonia, the changes in size and number of cells and the rate of elimination of food vacuoles were measured and correlated. It is concluded that most of the nitrogen in the bacterial food ingested by Glaucoma is eliminated in the form of ammonia approximately 6 hours after ingestion.