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Algal Culturing 247

FIGURE 6.3 Schematic drawing of the Thoma counting chamber.

hematocytometer was developed for counting cells in blood samples (now this is mostly done with elec-
tronic particle counters). Most of these counting chamber have delicate, mirrored surfaces that must not
be scratched. Each mirrored surface has a grid etched upon the surface. In the case of Thoma chamber
each grid is composed of 16 fields of 0.2 mm side, separated by three boundary lines (Figure 6.4). These
16 fields are further subdivided into 16 smaller areas each, for a total of 256 counting fields. The

FIGURE 6.4 Schematic drawing of the Thoma chamber ruling.