48 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



conditions, as well as the proportions and state of the main colloidal 

 components, must determine the temperature effects. 



The salts of the common bases are known to increase the coagulating 

 effects of temperature on protoplasm according to their speed in per- 

 meating the plasma. It would appear that of the conmion bases 

 or kations, potassium would exert the least effect, sodium and 

 calcium more, and magnesium most, while the nitrates have a lesser 

 effect than the chlorides, with the greatest effects in the citrates and 

 sulphates. (See Kahho, Hugo : Ueber die Hitzekoagulation des Proto- 

 plasmas durch Neutralsalze. Biochem. Zeitschrift, 117, p. 87. 1921.) 

 Capacity for endurance of high temperatures would suggest the pres- 

 ence of low proportions of salts, giving decreased coagulation effects. 



Physical and Chemical Factors in the Growth of Asparagus, hy Earl B. Working. 



The great mass of chemical information on plant materials concerns 

 seeds, tubers, and other storage tissues, and is therefore unavailable 

 for a study of the chemical factors of active growth. As it is the young 

 shoots of asparagus which are of economic importance, perhaps more 

 is known of their chemistry than of the chemistry of any other plant in 

 comparable rapid-growing regions. 



As a preliminary survey, the hydration capacities of the asparagus 

 in a large variety of solutions were tested by means of the auxograph, 

 and growth and temperature records were made both in the light and 

 in darkness. Both seedlings and young shoots from established roots 

 were tested in each type of experiment. 



In the physical field, both temperature effects and light effects offer 

 promising opportunities for further investigation. From the chemical 

 side, the action of sodium and that of balanced solutions, such as 

 sodium and calcium, seem to offer the most attractive field for detailed 

 study. There has long been a common belief that the application of 

 common salt to asparagus is advantageous. This has been both 

 affirmed and questioned by investigators. 



The commercial asparagus fields of the San Joaquin Valley and of 

 the Sacramento Islands were given considerable study. The islands 

 of the Sacramento River comprise probably the largest fields of 

 asparagus in the world and are an especially interesting study, because 

 in the lower end of the asparagus region the waters become decidedly 

 brackish when the river is low. 



Root-Growth in Relation to a Deficiency of Oxygen or an Excess of Carbon 

 Dioxid in the Soil, hy W. A. Cannon. 



The leading results of studies on the relation of root-growth to the 

 aeration conditions of the soil, and which have been referred to from 

 time to time in the Year Book, may be formally presented as follows: 



