The Effect of Ice and Steam Water on Euglena

Abstract

Previous papers (Barnes, 1932; Barnes and Barnes, 1932; Lloyd and Barnes, 1932) have indicated that there is some important difference in water that has recently been in the form of ice and water which has recently been in the form of steam as judged from its effect on the cells of Spirogyra. In this work the microscopical appearance of the cells was used as the indicator, for it is difficult to secure quantitative growth data on the filamentous algae. The present paper deals with the effect of these types of water on a protozoan, Euglena gracilis, in which it is possible to determine the number of cells per cc. of water. These experiments support the original findings that ice and steam water differ in some fundamental way, and they are not incompatible with the original working hypothesis that trihydrol particles are essential to certain types of cells. The problem of the association of water is in a very unsettled condition as will appear in a review of the polymerization of water which we expect to publish soon. This will deal with all the important papers in the field from the original specific heat paper of Rowland (1879) in which it was shown that water recovers slowly from freezing to the more recent infrared analyses and the slow establishment of polymer equilibrium at low temperatures. Even if the original trihydrol hypothesis need be considerably modified as research proceeds, it is hoped that the work will stimulate further investigations concerning the properties of water. For example, one may cite the work of Menzies (1932) who compared the vapor pressure of samples of recently boiled and frozen water at the same temperature. The apparatus consisted of two 25-cc. Pyrex bulbs connected by a water manometer. Under these conditions Menzies found no appreciable difference in vapor pressure. It is doubtful, however, if vapor pressure is a reliable indicator of the concentration of water polymers. In fact, it is the only important property of water which previous investigators have not studied in relation to association. The vapor pressure of ice and water is treated in Ice Engineering by H. T. Barnes (pp. 31-33, 56-57). Barnes and Vipond in 1909 found the surprising result that the heat of vaporization of ice at 0?C. is almost identical with that