ELECTRICAL ENERGY 31 



marsh gas, was produced from a mixture of hydrogen and 

 carbon dioxide ; and Lob, * in 1 906, found that formaldehyde 

 may be produced by the action of a silent discharge of elec- 

 tricity through a solution of carbon dioxide in water. Fenton f 

 also has pointed out that the synthetic action of light and of 

 the silent electrical discharge are practically identical. Thus 

 there is evidence which suggests that electric energy may 

 play a part in the earlier processes of photosynthesis ; a sug- 

 gestion which is supported by the fact that, according to 

 Polacci,J the formation of carbohydrates is promoted in 

 leaves by electrical energy, provided it be not too intense, 

 especially when a continuous current is made to pass directly 

 into the tissues. 



As a result of a number of experiments, Gibson comes 

 to the conclusion that the light rays which are absorbed by 

 the chlorophyll are transformed into electrical energy, and it is 

 this transformed energy which brings about the decomposition, 

 of carbonic acid to formaldehyde and oxygen. This opinion 

 is based on evidence the complete details of which apparently 

 have not been published 



With regard to other forms of energy, attention may be 

 drawn to the work of Kernbaum,|| who found that water ex- 

 posed to the influence of ft rays and of ultra-violet rays led to the 

 production of hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide. Usher and 

 Priestley also found that an aqueous solution of carbon dioxide 

 could be decomposed by the a and ft rays from radium emanatioa 

 The action of -oooi c.c. of radium emanation on 200 c.c. of water 

 saturated with carbon dioxide resulted in four weeks in the 

 production of hydrogen peroxide and formaldehyde. Most of 

 the latter was in a polymerized state, but the solution contained 

 no sugar. 



Stoklasa 11 considers that the essentiality of potassium, 

 which is feebly radioactive, to the well-being of green plants 

 is in part due to this property which is associated in the 



*L6b: "Zeit. Electrochem.," 1906, 12, 282. 



f Fenton : " Journ. Chem. Soc.," Lond., 1907, 91, 687. 



JPolacci: "Atti. Inst. Bot.," Pavia, 1905, II., u, 7. 



Gibson : " Ann. Bot.," 1908, 22, 117. 



|| Kernbaum : "Compt. rend.," 1909, 148, 755, 149, 273. 



T Stoklasa : " Biochem. Zeitsch.," 1920, 108, 109. 



