Abstract
I HAVE just read W. Stempel's paper, “Ueber die Funktion der pulsierenden Vacuole,” to which Prof. Bayliss kindly directed my attention in NATURE of November 18, p. 376. Stempel's idea as to how the contractile vacuole works appears to differ fundamentally from my conception of its mechanism. He regards it as a preformed organ of the cell, developed to eliminate the waste products of metabolism, these products being introduced into the vacuole by the radiating canals which he endows with peristaltic action. He further postulates the existence of non-return valves between these radiating canals and the vacuole, and also of one at the point of exit of the fluid to the exterior. He considers that the evacuation of the contents is effected by the osmotic pressure in the vacuole, opening the valve and thrusting out the fluid, by the surface tension of the extruded drop, and by the pressure of the protoplasm. He does not indicate that the elasticity of the protoplasm or its tenacity enters into the mechanism. My suggestion may be summed up in the much simpler statement that the contractile vacuole is a necessary development in the protoplasmic semi-permeable gel wherever sufficient soluble material accumulates, the radiating canals being formed by the elastic recovery of the gel after rupture.
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DIXON, H. Contractile Vacuoles. Nature 106, 441 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106441c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106441c0
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