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SUMMARY A method to record responses of single cells to rapid changes in their environment is described. A rectangular glass microcapillary is filled with the cell suspension under investigation and placed under a light microscope. With the aid of a micromanipulator a smaller microcapillary with a narrowed tip, which was still over 10 times wider than the cell diameter, is driven into the larger, cell containing, microcapillary. The environment of the cells is changed by injecting a new medium via the smaller capillary and the cell responses are recorded using a video recording system. The usefulness of the system has been examined by studying the time course of the osmotic swelling of erythrocytes after water injection and the shape transformations caused by lysophosphatidylcholine.

The amoebo‐flagellate transformation that occurs when Naegleria gruberi is transferred from growth medium to distilled water can be suppressed by the addition of ions. At concentrations of 3.2 mM and above the percentage of amoeba enflagellating decreases as the concentration of KCl, NaCl, LiCl, CaCl2 and MgCl2 is increased. KCl, alone, shows a marked trough, with a minimum at 1.2 mM, in enflagellation over the concentration range 0–3.2 mM.

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