BOTANY. 



for obtaining solutions. In transmitted light the alcoholic solution is 



green, but when viewed by reflected light it apjiears to be red. 



When an alcoholic solution of chlorophyll is boiled for a few minutes 



with an alcoholic solution of potash, and then neutralized with hydrochlo- 

 ric acid two substances are ob- 

 tained : the one as a yellow pre- 

 cipitate, named Pltylloxaitthinc, 

 and the other a blue substance 

 dissolved in the supernatant 

 liquid ; by evaporation the lat- 

 ter may be obtained as a blue 

 powder, named PJiyllocyanine. 

 (e) The importance of iron in 

 giving a green color to plants 

 is easily demonstrated by grow- 

 ing young plants of Indian corn 

 in solutions containing no iron. 

 The first-formed leaves are 

 green, but subsequently only 

 colorless ones are produced ; 

 alter the addition of iron in the 

 form of fen ic sulphate or ferric 

 chloride, the colorless leaves 

 become green in the course of 

 a few days. 



The importance of light in 

 the production of chlorophyll is 

 shown in the etiolated shoots of 

 the potato when grown in a 

 dark cellar ; the same thing 

 may be shown by germinating 

 the seeds of many common 

 plants in dark boxes. 



(d) The disappearance of chlo- 

 rophyll is seen in the common 

 43 -Chlorophyll grannies in cells of operation of blanching celery 



the leaf of a moss, Funana fnjf/rometrica. A, f or table use, and in the blanch- 



granules of chlorophyll with contained starch 



grains, embedded in the protoplasm of the nig of grass -blades under 



b", granules dividing; c, d, ami e, old gran- ing such colorless plants to the 

 tefOaFStt la&S^ lj e ht chlorophyll is produced, 

 of chlorophyll gnmule hy the action of water. (e) Many plants which contain 



chlorophyll have their green 



color hidden by the presence of some other coloring-matter. Some- 

 times this is dissolved in the water contained in the vacuoles ; this ia 

 the case in Coleus, in which the dissolved pigment is red. In young 

 plants of Atriplex the epidermal cells are filled with such a red solu- 

 tion, hiding the green chlorophyll-bearing cells underneath. In cer- 



