606 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED. 



physical and chemical factors which are of the greatest value in the 

 study of this problem, important from a practical as well as a theoret- 

 ical standpoint, can be accurately measured with the respiration 

 calorimeter. The results will assist in the interpretation of analytical 

 studies and throw a new light on the problems involved in the ripen- 

 ing and storage of fruit. As the method is applicable not only to 

 fruit of all kinds, but to vegetables and other products, it is believed 

 to have a wide range of possibilities. 



It has been suggested furthermore that some of the changes taking 

 place during the germination of seeds, a subject which has been 

 studied in other ways, could be more accurately determined. The 

 heating of grain in storage is also a problem to the study of which the 

 apparatus lends itself. V/ith certain adaptations, which are believed 

 mechanically possible, the apparatus might be used in connection with 

 growing plants to study their transpiration, respiration, etc., as well 

 as the energy required for these different physiological processes. 

 But little is now Imown regarding the energy changes of plant ac- 

 tivity, and this apparatus seems to afford a means for extending 

 knowledge along that line. Indeed, the possibilities for the study of 

 the respiratory exchange and energy production of vegetable products 

 and plant life are well-nigh unlimited, and open up a line of investi- 

 gation of great importance. 



Another line of study under consideration is that of the gaseous 

 exchange and energy metabolism of eggs during incubation. There 

 has been considerable work on the carbon-dioxid elimination, the 

 relation of moisture and the like, but no apparatus has thus far been 

 employed in which these can be studied as effectively as in the respira- 

 tion calorimeter, where a constant temperature can be maintained, 

 the carbon-dioxid content of the air measured and regulated, the 

 moisture governed, the energy changes followed, and other factors 

 brought under control. 



There are also important problems in the curing and storage of 

 meat, like those in the ripening and storage of fruit, which the ap- 

 paratus seems eminently suited to investigating. 



The work thus far done marks the adaptation of the calorimeter to 

 a new field of investigation in which it has not hitherto been em- 

 ployed, and in which investigation has been quite meager. It has 

 demonstrated that the instrument is fully as well suited for the study 

 of fundamental problems of plant life as it is for the study of similar 

 problems of animal life. In practice it would doubtless be found 

 advantageous to adapt it in size and possibly in other details to 

 the new purposes. The new application has aroused much interest in 

 the Department as its possibilities suggest themselves. Plans are al- 

 read}^ under consideration for cooperative experiments with different 

 bureaus on a variety of plant problems, with the object of securing 

 data needed in projects which these bureaus have under investigation. 



