This observation of Blochmann was not developed, however, until Jennings
(’04), by means of particles attached to the outer surface of amebas,
studied the forward movement of this layer. The results of Jennings’
work led him to conclude that the outer surface of amebas, which move
forward as demonstrated by attached particles of soot and other
substances, is continuous with the ectoplasm, and is really the
ectoplasm. The rate of movement of this layer was stated to be about the
same as that of the ameba as a whole. He denied the validity of
Bütschli’s suggestion that there might be a thin third layer on the
outside of amebas or pelomyxas.
But the existence of a third layer of protoplasm as distinct from the
ectoplasm, was again maintained by Schaeffer (’17) who found that in
some amebas the outer surface moves forward faster than the ameba
advances through the water. The third layer was found to be generated
over the surface of the ameba, especially in the posterior region of the
ameba, and destroyed at the anterior end.
But the purely observational aspect of the problem of ameboid movement
has not interested biologists generally as much as the ultimate cause of
the phenomenon.
The first attempt that was made to explain ameboid movement in
conformity with the demands of modern experimental science, that is, on
the basis of physical factors, was made by Berthold (’86). By means of
simple experiments with inert fluids (oils, alcohol, water, ether) which
were modeled after an experiment described by the physicist Paalzow
(’58), Berthold concluded that locomotion in ameboid organisms is due to
the physical attraction of the anterior end to the substratum. The ameba
was supposed to behave like a drop of fluid which moved towards the
point where the tension of the ameba’s surface was decreased by contact
with the substratum. The ameba did not _push out_ pseudopods according
to Berthold, but they were _pulled out_ because of a difference in
surface tension between them and the substratum. But pseudopods which
were extended into the water and out of contact with a solid substratum,
were said to be extended by a contractile effort of the posterior region
of the ameba.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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