Abstract
IN the résumé given in NATURE of April 14, p. 222, of the proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Paris on March 21, mention was made of the observation by Mme. Anna Drzewina and G. Bohn that certain aquatic animals (Convoluta and the larvæ of Rana fusca) become grouped together and appear to emit a protective substance as a defence against toxins introduced into the water. That the congregating of protozoa in such circumstances had a protective value of this nature was suggested by me in a note to Country-Side (August, 1913, vol. v., No. 8, p. 541), where I pointed out that the combined effort of a number of organisms massed together would no doubt produce a greater antitoxic effect than could a single isolated organism surrounded on all sides by water containing toxin.
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LUDFORD, R. Protozoa and the Evolution of the Gregarious Instinct. Nature 107, 332 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107332a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107332a0
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