The Royal Society, London. 377 



dinp^s ist es mir his Jetzt iiiclit gelungen, diesf Krystalle diircli 

 concentrirte Sehwclelsäure in Gj^psnadeln zu verwandeln; dies 

 beruht aber sieherlich nur auf der Kleinheit der Objecte. .ledon- 

 falls ist die plasniatische Natur der fraglichen (Jebilde völlig aus- 

 gesehlossen, und nur der Unbekanntschaft des Upsalaer Botanikers 

 mit den einfachsten Elementen der Mikrochemie ist es zu ver- 

 danken, dass diese leblosen Krystalle jemals für ölbildende Organe 

 ausgegeben wurden. 



Lund, 30. April 1898. 



Botanisches Institut der Universität. 



Berichte gelehrter Gesellschaften. 



The Royal Society, London. 



Observations on the action of anaesthetics on vege- 



table and animalprotoplasm. 



By 



J. B. Farmer and A. D. Waller. 



The object in view was to observe simuhaneously and compara- 

 tively the efFects of certain anaesthetics (carbon dioxide, ether and 

 Chloroform) upon vegetable and upon animal protoplasm. 



Two gas Chambers in series, through which anaesthetic and 

 other vapours can be passed, contain: the first, a leaf of Elodea 

 Canadensis under the microscope (X 300); the second, a sciatic 

 nerve of Bana temporaria connected with an inductorium and 

 galvanometer (or upon occasion a galvanograph).*) 



The actual niovements of Chlorophyll bodies in a cell of the 

 leaf were observed and measured by one of us, while the other 

 observer took readings of the galvanometric deflections in response 

 to excitation of the nerve. To establish coraparison between the 

 two classes of efFects, we took as measures: — the number of 

 Chlorophyll bodies that crossed a cobweb in the eye-piece during 

 each successive minute, and the magnitude of galvanometric defiec- 

 tions at intervals of one minute, before, during, and after the 

 action of the vapour. The number of bodies passing per minute 

 gives measure of the rate of movement in the vegetable proto- 

 plasm, while the magnitude of successive galvanometric deflections 

 gives measure of the mobility of the animal protoplasm. 



Our results will be most briefly presented by the records of 

 some representative observations. 



Experiment I. 



Chara. Nerre. 



Chloroform vapour, 5 per Permanent «bolition of Temporary abolition of 

 Cent, for 2 minute^. movemeut. mobility. 



*) As described iu ,Phil. Trans." H. Vol. CLXXXVIII. ld'.)7. p. 4. 



