RESPIRATION AFTER DEATH' 

 A. R. C. Haas 



(with three figures) 



It is commonly stated that when respiration ceases the proto- 

 plasm is no longer alive, but it is uncertain in most cases whether 

 respiration ends as soon as death occurs or whether it continues for 

 some time afterward. 



It was stated by Johannsen (8) , by Detmer (6) , and by Pfeffer 

 (17) that in general there is no production of CO^ after death, 

 although Reinke (18) and Brenstein (3) held the opposite view. 

 Buchner (4) showed that yeast which had been treated with 

 acetone and ether and which was incapable of cell division, and 

 in all probabihty dead, could produce CO2 by fermentation. 

 Kostytscheff (id) found that an aerobic plant, Aspergillus 

 niger, treated in this manner was still capable of respiration. 

 Since some of the cells appeared to be alive after the treatment, 

 he used heat to kill them. After this the oxidation was extremely 

 small. This is to be expected as the oxidases are, for the most 

 part, injured or destroyed by heat. Similar experiments have 

 been made on bacteria. Warburg (21) obtained a completely 

 sterile acetone preparation of Staphylococcus which respired about 

 one thirty-sixth as much as the living material. Warburg and 

 Meyerhof (21) found that treatment with acetone and ether had 

 little effect on the consumption of oxygen by unfertihzed sea 

 urchin eggs (although they were completely killed), but the same 

 treatment diminished the consumption of oxygen by fertilized eggs 

 by 90 per cent. 



Numerous experiments have been made with cells killed by 

 mechanical means (finely ground) or by freezing and thawing. 

 Palladin (16) found that finely ground wheat produced less CO2 

 than the normal amount, while various plants exposed to —20° C. 

 for some time and then thawed out showed a loss of power to absorb 

 oxygen, but continued to produce CO2. 



' A preliminary communication appeared in Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 

 347I [Botanical Gazette, vol. 67 



