It often happens, such as when the ameba is receiving a strong stimulus,
that streaming is arrested and brought to a stop for a few seconds, more
or less. Presently however the endoplasm begins to flow as before. At
what point, in such a case, is the first movement of endoplasm
detectible? Is it at the free end of the pseudopod, at its middle
region, at its base, or at the posterior end of the ameba? Bütschli
(’80, p. 116) observed that in a withdrawing pseudopod the streaming
begins at the free end of the pseudopod; but his (’92, p. 201) later
explanation of ameboid movement seems to require that the endoplasm
must begin to move at the base of the withdrawing pseudopod. Jennings
(’04, p. 157) observed that in a withdrawing pseudopod the current of
endoplasm begins at the base of the pseudopod.
From numerous observations directed toward this point, it appears that
the conditions under which streaming is resumed after a pause, whether
in the same or in the reverse direction, are of great variety. The
shape, size, slenderness, and the position on the ameba of the
pseudopod, as well as the strength and character of the stimulus, are
among the factors capable of changing in whole or in part the flow of
endoplasm in a pseudopod. In an ameba that has been moving along a
homogeneous flat surface, as nearly unstimulated as may be, the
endoplasm first begins to flow out of the lower half of the retracting
pseudopod, if the pseudopod is more or less uniformly conical in shape
and rather slender. In such a case it may be said that the retracting
pseudopod was withdrawn “by the ameba,” and that it did not itself
receive an external stimulus producing retraction. If, however, the tip
of a pseudopod as described receives a strong negative stimulus, the
endoplasm frequently flows back from the tip while it is still flowing
into the pseudopod at the base. But very soon thereafter, in such an
event, the streaming becomes unified and the pseudopod is withdrawn. In
broad pseudopods about to be withdrawn, the endoplasm may begin to move
anywhere along its length. This is undoubtedly due to the continuous
local changes in the walls of the pseudopod, which are characteristic of
this species of ameba (see p. 20).
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