Absorption of Silver on the Gills of a Freshwater Crab

Abstract

IF I have followed Prof. Koch aright, his point was that at least somewhere on each respiratory appendage of the Crustacea there was an area which absorbed silver. In Potamon, however, there are no silver-absorbing areas on the more posterior gills. To the best of my knowledge this type of specialization has not been found before. I believe that this may be of importance in a study of the biochemical aspects of the absorption of silver and other ions, for the posterior gills act, in a way, as a biochemical control on the specialization found in the anterior gills. It is hoped to be able to extend these observations in the near future.