[Vol. 2 



250 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



lipocolloids can play an important part in endosmose, as 

 Overton originally suggested. 



If there really are plasmatic lipoids present, they probably 

 have no significance as the path of nutrient substances into 

 cells. But, on the other hand, lipoids certainly participate in 

 narcotic effects, because the more soluble is this narcotic in 

 fat the more of the narcotic substance is stored by the plas- 

 matic substances. Consequently, the higher members of the 

 series of alcohols are more injurious for cells than the lower, 

 because the lipoid constituents of protoplasm become satur- 

 ated with the narcotic and can discharge these narcotics only 

 slowly. So the protoplasm succumbs to the influence of the 

 narcotic agent. On this point I share the opinion of Boeseken 

 and Waterman. 



The capillarity-rule can scarcely be explained otherwise 

 than by the hypothesis that lipoids are present in the surface 

 layer of protoplasm. So we are forced to continue our work 

 as an exploration designed to determine if lipocolloids are 

 present in protoplasm. A plan was devised and a decision 

 was sought in the following manner: Emulsions of pure trio- 

 lein or of olive-oil were prepared which had about the same 

 surface tension value as have solutions injurious to proto- 

 plasm. To a series of snmples arranged from such a fat 

 emulsion alcohol in gradually increasing amount was added. 

 The question now was whether there were effects produced on 

 the emulsion in some way comparable to the action of alcohol 

 on cells. Cell plasma contains also protein bodies and mineral 

 salts. So our model of emulsion had to be compounded by 

 adding a solution of mineral salts, as a physiologically 

 balanced mixture, and by adding also albumen solution. The 

 mineral salts were added as in the Van't Hol'f mixture in 0.1 

 molar concentration. An alkali is indispensable, so that 0.1 

 mol of sodium carbonate was used in order to produce a fine 

 and stable emulsion upon shaking the mixture with oil. The 

 results were in brief the following : When a fat emulsion from 

 olive oil was prepared by mixing only oil, water, and sodium 

 carbonate, the decomposing effect of alcohol on the emulsion 

 was noticed at a concentration of 3 mols, i. e., about 15 per 



