Abstract
The effect of diluting rumen samples with water and that of formol fixation, on the volume of ophryoscolecid rumen ciliates, was studied. The dilution with water caused within 2 hrs. the ciliates to swell to an average of 60 % (15.4–107.3). During 15 days of formol fixation, the shrinkage was on an average 10 % (0.0–19.8) of the original volume.
When the thickness of the cells was conceived equal to the width, volumes 35–77 % too large were obtained.
The influence of these sources of error on calculations of rumen fauna volumes is discussed.
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