A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF ANIONS 

 ON THE PERMEABILITY OF PLANT CELLS. 



By ORAN L. RABER. 



{From the Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Harvard University, Cambridge.) 

 (Received for publication, January 25, 1920.) 



Although the effects of cations on the permeability of plant cells 

 have frequently been studied, comparatively little attention has been 

 paid to the action of anions. 



The writer has investigated the effects of a series of anions on the 

 permeability of Laminaria agardhii Kjellm. Measurements were 

 made of the electrical conductivity by the method described by 

 Osterhout.^ 



The salts were the purest obtainable and the distilled water was not 

 toxic to delicate test objects. The salt solutions were neutral to 

 phenolsulfonephthalein (pH 7 ± 0.5). The temperature during the 

 course of the experiments was 19 ± 2°C. 



Sodium sulfocyanide, iodide, nitrate, bromide, chloride, acetate, 

 sulfate, tartrate, phosphate, and citrate were selected for study. 



Solutions of these salts were made of the same conductivity as a 

 slightly diluted sea water solution; viz., a solution having the same 

 conductivity as a 0.51 m solution of sodium iodide. (Normal sea 

 water has the same conductivity as a 0.57 m solution of sodium iodide.) 

 As is well known, various samples of sea water differ slightly in their 

 conductivity and hence no absolute concentration can be given for 

 each salt. The following table shows the approximate concentrations 

 used. 



1 Osterhout, W. J. V., J. Biol. Chem., 1918, xxxvi, 557. 



535 



