[Vor. 5 
242 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 
lyzing solutions being sucrose and potassium nitrate, the in- 
dieators epidermal cells of Tradescantia. The results showed 
a consistent reduction of permeability values as the result of 
narcotie action; inereased osmotie pressure was also noted. 
Ruhland (208, 712), however, opposes Lepeschkin’s findings 
with respect to basie dyes with the results of his own in- 
vestigations, aecounting for permeability of such substances 
on other grounds. 
Osterhout (713, 7132) studied the permeability of plant 
tissues by electrical conductivity measurements. In connec- 
tion with this work he found that anaesthetics decreased the 
permeability of Laminaria tissues. In later studies ('16) he 
reported that such permeability was reversible, and showed 
a relation between anaesthetic concentration and the degree 
of permeability. The relative concentrations for permeability 
decrease corresponded closely with those effecting anaes- 
thesia. An increase in permeability, on the other hand, was 
irreversible and caused permanent injury. 
Merrill (715), іп an extensive study of exosmosis in 
response to various factors, found that both chloroform and 
ether in vapor form and in solution effected a marked ex- 
osmosis from the roots of Pisum sativum, the first-named 
anaesthetic having a notably greater action. Lillie (’18) has 
recently reported experiments with fertilized sea-urchin eggs, 
which show the direct effect of anaesthetics upon permeability 
to water. 
Harvey (717) studied the effect of anaesthetics upon the 
regulation of specific gravity in Noctiluca, and also the ef- 
fect on light production. It was found that such regulatory 
power was not affected unless the narcotics were used in con- 
centrations sufficient to cause irreversible changes and death 
of the cells; the animals could be anaesthetized, however, by 
certain concentrations of ether and chloroform, so that they 
failed to give the customary flash when subjected to a stimu- 
lus. She concluded from her experiments that the anaes- 
theties affect the mechanism of oxygen utilization in the cell, 
and not the permeability of the cell membrane for oxygen. 
