L92 Report of the Department ok Botany of the 



chamber contained 5.7 bushels or about 16 lbs. per cubic foot. When 

 the door was opened, at the end of 24 hours, it was found that the 

 formaldehyde gas had nearly all disappeared. Immediately after 

 the door was opened one of the writers thrust his head into the 

 box and held it there for over a minute without discomfort; whereas, 

 in previous experiments the gas had been so strong as to be almost 

 suffocating. The tubers were entirely free from injury. Three other 

 experiments were made with 16 lbs. per cubic foot with the same 

 result — the practical disappearance of the gas and no injury to 

 the tubers. In other experiments varying quantities of potatoes 

 were used in an attempt to determine the least quantity that could 

 be treated with safety. Traces of lenticel injury occurred with 

 all quantities up to 12 lbs. per cubic foot, but no eye injury appeared 

 when five pounds or more per cubic foot were used. While the 

 injury resulting from the treatment plainly bore an important 

 relation to the quantity of potatoes per cubic foot, it did not decrease 

 uniformly as the quantity of potatoes increased. In different 

 experiments with the same quantity of potatoes varying degrees 

 of injury resulted. The extent of this variation may be seen by 

 an examination of Table I. 



It having been determined that the exposure of a large quantity 

 of potatoes caused the disappearance of the gas and prevented 

 injury, the question arose as to the manner in which it is brought 

 about. Does the gas enter into chemical combination with the 

 substance of the potatoes or is it merely held on the surface of the 

 tubers? When lesions appear there can be no doubt that some of 

 the gas has combined with the contents of the cells and caused their 

 death. It is known that formaldehyde may combine with protein 

 bodies. 13 But when there are no lesions on the tubers the proof 

 of chemical union is less evident. As regards the alternate proposi- 

 tion, chemists and physicists have long known that objects of many 

 different kinds have the power of holding upon their surface consider- 

 able quantities of any gas surrounding them. This is known as 



"Bliss, C. L., and Novy, F. G. Action of formaldehyde on enzymes and on certain 



proteids. Jour. Exp. Med. 4:47-80. 1899. 

 Steinegger, R. Die Einwirkung des Formaldehyds auf die Eiweisskorper. Land. 



Jahr. Schweiz 19:524-525. 1905. 

 Lepierre, C. Einwirkung des Formaldehyds auf die Eiweisskorper. Umwandlung 



der Peptone und Albuminosen in Primare Eiweissstoffe. Jour. Phar. Chim. 



[6], 9:449-451. 1899. Abstract in Ztschr. Untersuch. Nahr. u. Genussmtl. 



2:924. According to this author the action of formaldehyde on protein bodies 



consists in the condensation and withdrawal of water with the simultaneous 



occurrence of methyl groups in the protein molecule. 



