REST PERIOD STUDIES WITH SEEDS 55 



Gayon (1877) found that an ether atmosphere suspended the 

 evolution of C O 2 but Elfving reported an acceleration of respiration 

 in P\sum seedings when exposed to the influence of ether. Lauren 

 believed that seeds rich in carbohydrates could not have their respira- 

 tion increased since respiration could be accelerated only in propor- 

 tion to the amount of nitrogenous matter contained in the seed, and 

 Abrahamson's l (1910) work showed that a high protein content in 

 barley was correlated with a high respiration. Johannsen proved that 

 in ripening lupines and sweet peas respiration was slightly retarded 

 by etherization, but in young ripening barley seeds it was increased. 

 Thus it seems that the specific effect of ether on respiration depends 

 quite largely on the kind of seed being tested. 



Hempel experimented extensively concerning the effect of etheriza- 

 tion on plant metabolism, but the only part of that work of interest 

 here deals with the effect of ether on ripening seeds of Pisum and 

 Lupinus. It was found that etherizing germinating seeds retarded 

 both the germination and also the subsequent growth. The effect of 

 small doses for short periods was to accelerate the production of C O 2 

 but large doses retarded it. Respiration was never increased as an 

 "after effect." The sugar forming process was not so vitally affected 

 as the respiratory process, and because of the relation of the inversion 

 of sugar to the other processes, it was thought that the retardation of 

 the C O 2 production might be due to a lack of hexoses. Young 

 Pisum seeds showed a hastening of the condensation of proteids 

 normally taking place at maturity, when small doses of ether were 

 used. Large doses retarded the synthesis of proteids or destroyed 

 those already formed. Ether retarded the decrease of amides at 

 ripening time in mono-amino seeds but small doses seemed to slightly 

 increase it in di-amino seeds. Wounded seeds were not affected by 

 small doses of ether, but large doses tended to produce an increase in 

 the amides during the two days' exposure. 



Summarizing, Hempel recognizes three phases of narcotization: 

 (1) Exciting (small doses for short periods) during which time the 

 normal plant activities are accelerated; (2) narcosis proper (small 

 doses for long periods or large doses for short periods) characterized 

 by a retardation of the normal processes; and (3) toxic (large doses 

 for long periods) causing all the phenomena characteristic of the death 

 of the plant. 



Lewis 2 (1906) reported quicker germination and more uniform 

 growth from seeds which have been etherized than from untreated 



1. Abrahamson, Exp. Sta. Record, Vol. 24, p. 629. 



2. Lewis, Cornell Countryman, 3 (1906), No. 8, pp. 190-91. 



