EFFECT OF CHLOROFORM 



47 



Under chloroform a growing organ thus exhibits a 

 prehminary acceleration of growth followed by contraction, 

 which may be either feeble or very intense. The con- 

 traction by itself should not be regarded as the sign of 

 death, for there are agents which induce a temporary 

 contraction from which a revival is possible. The test of 

 the death-spasm is that it is an irreversible change, from 

 which the plant cannot be revived by substituting fresh air 



Fig. 20. Effect of vapour of Chloroform. 



a, preliminary acceleration followed by arrest and death-spasm 

 (Tropaeolum) ; h, revival of growth (Centaurea) ; c, revival 

 of growth, arrest, and death-spasm (Crinum) ; d, enhance- 

 ment, arrest, and death-spasm (Datura). 



for the anaesthetic. The contraction under the prolonged 

 action of chloroform (by which even the interior of the organ 

 becomes affected) may be taken as the death-spasm, since 

 fresh air fails to revive the plant. Another interesting 

 phenomenon observed after chloroforming the plant is 

 the profuse deposit of minute drops of liquid on the 

 surface. This is due to the forcing out of the sap 

 during death-contraction, the escape being facilitated by 

 the increased permeability of the cell-protoplasm. Dark 

 spots of discoloration soon begin to appear and spread 



