PUBLICATIONS ON AGRICULTURAL BOTANY IN FRANCE. 845 



According to the author, this assiinihitiou is favored through the ac- 

 celerated decomposition of carbon dioxid. His later results indicate 

 that the electric current has an influence on respiration. Considering 

 the ease with which electric currents may be applied, it is surprising 

 that these exi)eriments have not been nuUtiplied with a view to their 

 practical application in the growth of crops. For a well-equipped 

 station this is a profitable line of investigation. 



One of the most important publications of the year is that of Uerthe- 

 lot and Andrd' on recent investigations on the growth of plants. The 

 general study of the formation of organic inattor — tliat is, the gradual 

 lixation of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and the mineral com- 

 pounds — has been considered by the authors^ in a previous paper. In 

 this the jn'oldems and methods of analysis are stated, and it is shown 

 how it was possible to chemically define the plant at the different peri- 

 ods of its growth. An attempt is made to establish "a general equa- 

 tion for the idanf and its successive growths both with respect to 

 elementary composition and jn'oximate constituents. This is one of the 

 first attempts to make an exact chemical study of the i)lant in its 

 entirety and to determine the relative weights of its various parts and 

 constituents in comparison with the total. The results of 4 years' 

 experiments at the station for ])lant chemistry at Meudon are reported. 

 The plants grown were white lui)ine, wheat, alfalfa (annual except in 

 one series in which it was grown from old roots), and Idack locust with 

 which only those parts removed each year, such as leaves, flowers, and 

 fruits, were taken into account. 



In these experiments both the proximate and the ultimate constitu- 

 ents were determined. The plants were analyzed at different funda- 

 mental periods iu their development, viz, seed, first leaf, fiowering, 

 fruiting, and maturity. From the analytical data it is possible to com- 

 l)ute the atomic relations iu terms of 6 atoms of carbon, according to 

 the hypothesis that the greater part of the insoluble matter iu i)lants 

 is made up of compounds containing C,,. The conclusions reached by 

 the use of this method were that the relative and absolute amount of 

 carbon is greatest in the leaves. In the roots and stems the relative 

 amount of carbon' is the same, Avhile the absolute amount is consider- 

 ably larger in the stems than in the roots. The relative amount of 

 hydrogen is greatest in the leaves and least in the stems. The stems, 

 then, must be considered the seat of oxidation, while the leaves are in 

 a continual state of reduction. Moreover, in the leaves is found the 

 greatest absolute amount of hydrogen and the minimum in the roots. 

 The relative and absolute amounts of albuminoids are greatest in the 

 leaves, least in the stems, and intermediate in the roots. From this it 

 would appear that the most rai)id oxidation goes on in the stems, less in 

 the roots, and least of all iu the leaves. There is shown to bo an excess 



' Aiiu. Chilli. (,'t Pliys., ser. 7, 9 (ISftfi), VV.'>, 115. 

 ^ Ann. Cliim. ct I'bys.^ ser. 6, 5 (1885), pp. 385, 3"Jli. 



