1054 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



mays, Cucurbita pepo, Phaseolus multiflorus, and Lupimis luteus the author showed 

 that there exists a direct relation (especially marked in dilute solutions) between 

 the amount of potassium nitrate in the nutritive solution and that of nitrate nitrogen 

 in t lie plant. 



(4) The distribution of nitric acid in the different organs of the plant and in the 

 plants at different ages was studied. On the basis of his experiments the author 

 states that in young plants there are more nitrates in the stems and cotyledons than 

 in the roots, and that as the age of the plants increases (plants of Helianthus and 

 Cucurbita were examined when 1, 2, and 4 weeks old) the quantity of nitrates in 

 the roots also increases. Other observers have found that the amount of nitrates 

 in plants steadily increases until the period of flowering is reached, and that during 

 the period of ripening the nitrates disappear from the plants, reappearing afterwards. 

 The distribution of the nitrates even in one and the same organ is not uniform. The 

 lower part of the stem is richest in nitrates, the peripheric parts of the leaves are 

 poorest. 



(5) It is shown that nitric acid enters and accumulates in plants for the most part 

 in the form of potassium nitrate, but that it may also enter in the form of other 

 nitrates. The author experimented with nitrates of potassium, sodium, ammonium, 

 magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium. All the plants experimented with 

 developed normally in a relatively concentrated solution of potassium nitrate, but 

 with other nitrates much more dilute solution had to be used. Barium nitrate 

 proved to be injurious even in very dilute solution. (6) Experiments are described 

 Which show that increased evaporation caused an increase in the accumulated 

 nitrates ami also that light induced an increased storing up of nitrates as compared 

 with plants growing in the dark. 



(7) The causes of the accumulation of the nitrates in the plants are discussed and 

 the author is inclined to share the view first advanced by de Vries that the impor- 

 tance of the nitrates lies in their contributing to the production of the necessary 

 osmotic pressure in the plants. (8) Discussing the conditions of the reduction of 

 the nitrates accumulated in the plants, the author concludes on the basis of his 

 experiments with the leaves of Sambucus nigra and with the young plants of Helian- 

 thus, Zea mays, and Cucurbita that the reduction of the nitrates can take place in 

 the absence of light, although in that case the reduction does not proceed so ener- 

 getically as in the presence of light. 



A bibliography including 127 titles is appended. — p. fireman. 



Transformation of substances in the germination of the seeds of Cucurbita 

 maxima, M. Egorov (Izv. Moscov. Selsk. Khoz. Inst. [Ann. Inst. Agron. Moscou], 10 

 {1904), No. 2, pp. 431-449). — After a survey of the literature on the subject, the 

 author describes his experiments with Cucurbita maxima. 



The germination took place in the dark, and samples were examined after the 

 expiration of 6, 10, 20, and 28 days. The results of the analyses are tabulated, and 

 summarizing his experiments the author states that the amount of fat increases dur- 

 ing the first period, after which it diminishes, amounting at the end of the .fourth 

 period to only about two-thirds of the original content. During the progress of 

 germination the free acids increase while the unsaturated invariably decrease. 

 The quantity of undecomposed glycerids is greatly reduced during the processes of 

 germination. 



During the first period there was an increase in the dry matter. During the same 

 period the decomposition of albuminoids reached the maximum. The carbohydrates 

 increased throughout the experiments. The limit of the maximum percentage of 

 starch was not ascertained. It is believed that a decrease in starch may have taken 

 place that was masked by the formation of some soluble carbohydrates. — p. fireman. 



Regressive metamorphosis of the albuminoid substances in the higher 



