86 PLANT RESPIRATION 



2. REVIEW OF THE RECENT LITERATURE 



It is evident that at the close of the 19th century the theory 

 of the connection of anaerobic with normal respiration was 

 considered too weak to hold. The views of the opponents of 

 this theory, especially of Diakonow, Godlewski and Palladin, 

 were accepted at this time. Thus Chudiakow^ sought to 

 prove that not only molds but also yeast produces COo from 

 sugar solutions only in the absence of oxygen. Polowzow^ 

 likewise accepts Diakonow's views and assumes that anaerobic 

 respiration represents an independent process which has no 

 genetic connection with oxygen respiration, yet it is not to be 

 regarded as an abnormal phenomenon because it takes place 

 simultaneously with normal respiration with unrestricted access 

 to oxygen, and indeed stands out in the case of retarded growth. 

 At the time at which Polowzow advanced this hypothesis impor- 

 tant facts in favor of the connection of anaerobic with normal 

 respiration had been disclosed. The Polowzow hypothesis is 

 to be regarded as an "after-effect" of Diakonow's work and 

 serves to illustrate the strong influence of that work upon his 

 younger colleagues. In the same way Maquenne^ observed 

 the marked increase of normal respiration after four hours of 

 anaerobiosis, a fact missed by Borodin (loc. cit.), but in spite of 

 this he retained the old theory and recognized no connection 

 between anaerobic and normal respiration. However, Pfliiger's 

 theory supposes that there are formed in anaerobic respira- 

 tion easily oxidisable materials which are then burned to COj 

 and HoO through the agency of oxidising catalysts. Maquenne's 

 experiments could thus be interpreted as directly in favor 

 of the Pfliiger theory. 



The adherents to Diakonow's views passed over a later work 

 of Diakonow^ without due consideration. Indeed this particu- 

 lar piece of work was published in Russian yet it was left 

 almost unconsidered by Russian investigators. In this work 

 Diakonow declares that his earlier results were not wholly 

 reliable and repeats his experiments with molds under other 



' Chudiakow, J. Landwirtschaftl. Jahrb. 23 : 486. 1894. 



- Polowzow, V. Untersuch. (Iber die Pflanzenatmung. 1901. Russian. 



■* Maquenne. Compt. rend. 119: 100, 697. 1894. 



'Diakonow, N. Arb. d. Xaturf.-Ges. in Petersburg 23: i. 1893. 



