Velocity Profile Pictographs of Amoeboid Movement

抄録

Graphs were obtained of granular motion in Amoeba proteus by the pictograph technique which records the motion exhibited by granules, illuminated by darkfield microscopy, in a single time exposure photograph. The pictographs are made by the organism and are accurate but complex recordings. Information obtained from this method demonstrates that the plasmagel tube is capable of contraction. However, there is no significant change in morphology of this organism during its locomotion. Importance is placed on the active acceleration of plasmasol from the interstices of the tail's Plasmagel. It is suggested that this might be the basic “contractile” event of amoeboid locomotion which supports the concept advanced by Kamiya for Physarum that an active sliding of plasmasol on plasmagel is a fundamental requirement of protoplasmic motion.