THE ETHERIZATION OF PL.VNTS. 69 



movements such as that of the stamens of the prickly barberry, etc. 

 This is a question of very great importance to settle. If the analogy 

 of these effects is pursued even to the nature of their action we 

 perceive what an intimate relation is thus manifested between 

 animal and vegetable organisms. 



"This experiment proves that ether and chloroform react very 

 naturally upon all living substances; their action reveals in the 

 sensibility a property common to all living beings both animal and 

 vegetable, simple or complex." 



Bernard continued his observations upon vegetable tissues by 

 experimenting with seeds. He found that when seeds were sub- 

 jected to the fumes of ether no germination could be secured. 



In 1891 Dr. Raphael Dubois (7) published the results of some 

 studies on the physiological effect of anesthetics upon plants. 

 Speaking of these observations he says, "The vapors of anesthetics 

 induce moreover intense modifications of the tissues entirely similar 

 to that which results from the action of frost." In a later publica- 

 tion (8) Dubois says, "Seeds will not germinate in the presence of 

 ether and chloroform vapors, even though they are supplied with 

 heat, oxygen, and water; that is to say, the three fundamental 

 essentials to germination, since the absorption of water cannot take 

 place." The same investigator also observed the effect of anesthet- 

 ics upon growing plants. Describing this experiment he says, 

 "If one places succulent plants, echeverias for example, in a tightly 

 closed receptacle in contact with ether vapor, they permit at the 

 end of a certain time large drops of water to transude through the 

 epidermis of the leaves. Oranges which have remained a sufficient 

 length of time in a similar atmosphere assume the appearance of 

 frozen fruit. 



"It is interesting to note that the inmost action of anesthetics in 

 general very closely approaches that of cold, in that cold prevents 

 imbibition, induces the separation of water from the protoplasm 

 in the frozen tissues, and expels just as ether does haemoglobin 

 from the blood corpuscle." 



