The Chemistry of Light-Production in Luminous Organisms. 



219 



The organic acid (valerianic) and alkali (methyl amine) have less 

 effect than the inorganic, a result at variance with my results for 

 other organisms which are usually affected more readily by the weak 

 than by the strong acids and alkalies (12 and is). 



EFFECT OF HOMOLOGOUS ALCOHOLS (ANESTHETICS). 



As is indicated in table 18, the effect of the alcohols on light-produc- 

 tion is very similar to their effect on other life processes ; they exert an 

 inhibiting or anesthetic action which is perfectly reversible. If alcohol 



TABLE 18. Effect of alcohols. 



Probaljly due to evaporation of alcohol. 



solutions containing bacteria which have stopped emitting light are 

 diluted with sea-water, light-production again begins. As with other 

 tissues, the higher the alcohol in the series the greater anesthetic power 

 it has. 



The effect of a number of other substances was studied in a very 

 rough way, namely, by adding a small quantity of the substance to 

 a sea-water emulsion of the bacteria in test-tubes and then shaking 



