566 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



[Vol. 2 



isms after anesthetic treatment has also been considered by 

 some as evidence indicating the reversibility of the anesthetic 

 action. If such be viewed from the standpoint of chemical 

 reactions, however, the mere fact of recovery of the organism 

 to a normal condition following the application of anes- 

 thetics would not seem to be sufficient justification for con- 

 cluding that the chemical reaction which initiated the effect 

 is a reversible one, especially when one considers the manifold 

 activities of the cell and the wonderful recuperative powers 

 possessed by organisms, these no doubt involving numerous 

 reactions. Hence the writer is inclined to the belief that an 

 irreversible chemical reaction was at the basis of the phe- 

 nomena observed as a result of the treatment of the plant 

 with anesthetics and the consequent exosmosis of substances 

 contained in the cell, and that any alteration of the plasma 

 membrane resulting in changed permeability finds its best 

 explanation on the basis of actual chemical reactions. 



It is further believed that the results obtained by antagonis- 

 tic pairs of salts and by single salts are also to be explained, 

 as far as resulting exosmosis is concerned, in the specificity of 

 the action of each. The method employed herein gives a deli- 

 cate register of such action and is considered to be especially 

 desirable because in it growth phenomena, with their result- 

 ing complex nutritive relations, may be left out of considera- 

 tion. That the high conductivity readings in the case of the 

 salts and certain other electrolytes was not due to insufficiency 

 of the washing before the roots were placed in the distilled 

 water was abundantly proved in various ways. 



In regard to the method of experimentation employed in the 

 work here reported, mention may well be made of its adapt- 

 ability for delicate determinations pertaining to the relative 

 toxicity of different substances. In the past such determina- 

 tions have been made by means of growth measurements. It 

 would seem that in this method we have, in some respects, a 

 more rapid and satisfactory procedure for such work. 



X. Summary and Conclusions 

 A brief historical review is given of the subject of excretion 



