ALCOHOLS IN PLANTS 385 



from C and the gas displaced by raising the reservoir. To 

 recommence the collection of gas, the siphon is replaced and 

 started with a pressure bulb, and then the tap of F is opened. 



By means of the mercury cup on the top of the nitrometer, 

 samples of the gas may be removed for analysis. 



It is to be noted that as rubber tubing is permeable to 

 carbon dioxide as little as possible should be used for the 

 connexions between F and N. 



OCCURRENCE OF ALCOHOLS IN PLANTS. 



Methyl Alcohol has been found to occur in the aqueous 

 distillates and in the essential oils of a very large number of 

 different plants, amongst which might be vi\QX\Wo\\&^ Juniperus 

 Sabina, Zea Mais, Loliuin perenne, Iris gemtanica, Euonymus 

 europaea, Thea sinensis, Eugenia caryophyllata, Carum carvi, 

 Anthriscus cerefolium, etc. 



Ethyl Alcohol is not quite so widely distributed as methyl 

 alcohol, but occurs in distillates from Cananga odorata 

 (Ylang Ylang), Pyrus Mains, Mespilus germanica. Eucalyptus, 

 Anthriscus cerefolium, Pastinaca sativa, Vaccinium Myrtillus, 

 Betula alba, etc. 



Mention also should be made of the occurrence of this 

 alcohol, together with lactic acid and acetone* in some cases, 

 in the higher plants especially during anaerobic respiration. 

 Stoklasa,f for instance, found that this substance together 

 with acetic and formic acids was produced during anaerobic 

 respiration of potatoes and seeds. Indeed, many consider 

 that alcoholic fermentation is the first expression of respiration, 

 and whether alcohol is formed or not depends upon the 

 conditions ; thus under normal conditions in the presence of 

 oxygen the first products are oxidized before the alcohol stage 

 in the process is reached, or the alcohol may be used up in 

 anabolic processes as soon as it is formed, or it may be oxidized 

 to water and carbon dioxide — the normal end products of 

 aerobic respiration.! 



* Palladin and Kostytschew : " Ber. deut. bot. Gesells.," 1906, 24, 273. 



fStoklasa: id., 1904, 22, 358; " Centr. f. Bakter. u. Parasit.," 1905, II, 31, 

 86. Godlewski and Polzeniusz : "Bull. Acad. Sci., Cracow," 1901, 227; Sto- 

 klasa, Jelinek and Vitek : " Beitr. z. chem. Phys. u. Path.," 1903, 3, 460. 



+ See Kostytschew; " Ber. deut. bot. Gesells.," igoS, 26, 565. 

 25 



