HIGH SPEED PHOTOMICROGRAPHY OF LIVING CELLS SUBJECTED TO SUPERSONIC VIBRATIONS

A new type of camera system is described capable of taking 1200 pictures a second through a microscope objective. Photographs showing the destruction of Arbacia eggs by high frequency sound waves indicate that the disintegration occurs in less than 1/1200 second. Eggs drawn out into spindle or tadpole shapes suggest that rapid movements of the fluid tearing the eggs may be responsible for the disintegration. Although no cavitated air bubbles show in the photographs, other experiments make it likely that the rapid fluid movement is the result of submicroscopic cavitation.