CHANGES IN THE APPARENT CYTOPLASMIC HYDROGEN ION CONCENTRATION OF AMEBA DUBIA ON INJECTION OF EGG ALBUMIN

1. Egg albumin when injected into an ameba or discharged into the solution about it raises the apparent pH of the cytoplasm of the ameba. 2. With time the cytoplasm returns to the original pH 6.9 if the nucleus is present. Amebae that have received repeated injections of albumin in some cases extrude their nuclei. In these cells the cytoplasm remains at the more alkaline pH induced by the albumin for at least 12 hours. 3. When a 2 per cent solution of albumin is introduced into a suspension of amebae there is a temporary marked rise in the rate at which CO(2) is given off with no corresponding rise in O(2) uptake. 4. The results observed can be explained if the albumin discharged onto the surface of the ameba rapidly enters the cell and there becomes distributed in a phase of the cytoplasm other than the one which contains the phenol red.