Paramecium
Paramecium (parr-ə-MEE-sh(ee-)əm, /ˌpærəˈmiːʃⁱəm/ or parr-ə-MEE-see-əm, /ˌpærəˈmiːsiəm/) is a genus of unicellular ciliated protozoan, commonly studied as a representative of the ciliate group. Paramecia are widespread in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments and are often very abundant in stagnant basins and ponds. Because some species are readily cultivated and easily induced to conjugate and divide, it has been widely used in classrooms and laboratories to study biological processes. Its usefulness as a model organism has caused one ciliate researcher to characterize it as the "white rat" of the phylum Ciliophora.
Historical background
Paramecia were among the first ciliates to be seen by microscopists, in the late 17th century. They were probably known to the Dutch pioneer of protozoology, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and were clearly described by his contemporary Christiaan Huygens in a letter of 1678. In 1718, the French mathematics teacher and microscopist Louis Joblot published a description and illustration of a microscopic "poisson" (fish), which he discovered in an infusion of oak bark in water. Joblot gave this creature the name "Chausson," or "Slipper," and the phrase "slipper animalcule" remained in use as a colloquial epithet for Paramecium, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The name "Paramecium"—constructed from the Greek παραμήκης (paramēkēs, "oblong") -- was coined in 1752 by the English microscopist John Hill, who applied the name generally to "Animalcules which have no visible limbs or tails, and are of an irregularly oblong figure." In 1773, O. F. Müller, the first researcher to place the genus within the Linnaean system of taxonomy, adopted the name Paramecium, but changed the spelling to Paramœcium. C. G. Ehrenberg, in a major study of the infusoria published in 1838, restored Hill's original spelling for the genus name, and most researchers have followed his lead.
Podcasts:
Paramaecium
ALBUMS
- Echoes From the Ground released: 2004
- A Time to Mourn released: 1999
- Within the Ancient Forest released: 1996
- Exhumed of the Earth released: 1993
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The Unnatural Conception In Two Parts: The Birth And The Massacre Of The Innocents
by: Paramaecium[Music by A. Tompkins, J. Sherlock and J. De Ron]
The embryo implants the uterine lining,
folding within its amniotic abode
The gut and neural tubes forming in conjunction
Cardiac impulse with foetal brain function
The journey was harsh, days on the road in the dirt
The young couple compelled by the census taker to reach the City of David
The time came for the birth of her firstborn but no lodgings were found
So, wrapped in strips of cloth, the child was placed in an animal feeding trough
In the absence of relations
The human paternal genome left in want
The Word became flesh and blood through the unnatural conception
The uterine contractions are a source of pain
The agonising passage through cervix dilating
Vacating the endometrium the child emerges, afterbirth, initial respiration
Infanticide has gripped Ephrath, mothers cry as their children die
His Highness, his wickedness, Herod the Great
Has slaughtered the innocents for his excruciating jealousy
The Magi had informed Herod of the birth of a king
His unbridled ambition was crushed by the arrival of the Christ
He consulted the chief priests and scribes as to the place of birth
Then, with his throne in thought, the ugly violence of the murders were wrought
But too late for the child of promise had fled to western lands
The Word became flesh and blood through the unnatural conception
Thus the Christ of prophecy was born