Abstract
During the past half-century, there has been recurrent interest in the chemical nature of the stinging capsules of cœlenterates. Mainly two lines of investigation have been pursued. Toxic extracts of the tentacles or whole animal have been examined1, and histochemical studies have been made. Both these approaches have yielded interesting information for speculation, but as Hyman2 has pointed out, “On the whole it must be concluded that the nature of the nematocyst toxin is unknown, since the extracts mentioned above include tissues as well as nematocysts …”, and one cannot expect the histochemical approach to yield the definitive answers.
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References
Welsh, J., Deep Sea Research, 3, Supp. 287 (1955).
Hyman, L., “The Invertebrates, Protozoa through Ctenophora” (McGraw-Hill Co., New York and London, 1940).
Kabat, E., and Mayer, M., “Experimental Immunochemistry”, 312 (Springfield, Illinois, Chas, C. Thomas; 1948). Ratish, H., and Bullowa, J., Arch. Biochem., 2, 381 (1943).
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PHILLIPS, J. Isolation of Active Nematocysts of Metridium senile and their Chemical Composition. Nature 178, 932 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/178932a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/178932a0
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