A MECHANISM OF INTAKE AND EXPULSION OF COLORED FLUIDS BY THE LATERAL LINE CANALS AS SEEN EXPERIMENTALLY IN THE GOLDFISH (CARASSIUS AURATUS)

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Abstract
Gold fish immersed in aqueous solutions or suspensions of lampblack, India ink, vermillion, and Berlin blue absorbed the coloring matter along the lateral line. By allowing the fish to swim in the colored material the lateral line organ absorbed enough dye clearly to outline it. The intake and expulsion of dye by the canal of the lateral line organs could be plainly observed. Intake of dye is rapid,[long dash]taking a few sec. to a few min. Expulsion of dye requires 1/4-1 + hr. Colored fluids passing through the pores of the lateral canals mix rapidly with the mucus of the contents. This mucus may act as a diluent. The author suggests that the lateral canals function in part at least as sensory testing mechanisms for chemical and physical changes in the environment and that the ready flow of mucus from the canals furnishes an efficient means of eliminating fluids that have been tested by the end organs of the canal system.

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