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BRIEFER ARTICLES. 
INTRAMOLECULAR RESPIRATION. 
THE experiment which is reported here failed in its original pur- 
pose, but the results which it did furnish seem to be worth reporting. 
The experiment was run in duplicate. Five grains of Japanese buck- 
wheat, which had been previously soaked in distilled water for six 
hours, were placed in each of two eudiometers of 114° capacity. A 
Piece of moist absorbent cotton was then placed loosely on the seeds, 
and the whole was secured in place by a cork with a groove in one 
Side to admit of free circulation of the gases above and below. The 
volume of the seeds, cotton, and cork in the first eudiometer was 14:5"; 
and in the second 15.5. The eudiometers were partly filled with 
mercury and inverted over a dish of the same metal. The column of 
mercury in no. 1 was 137™", and in no. 2 132™™ high. After reducing 
to standard pressure, no. 1 contained 65.41° and no. 2 contained 
65.11° of atmospheric air. 
The evolution of carbonic acid gas was quite rapid for the first few 
days. In forty-eight hours the volume of gases had increased so much 
that the column of mercury was entirely displaced and the gases had 
begun to escape through the dishes of mercury. This loss of gas 
seemed to invalidate the experiment, consequently the apparatus was 
set to one side until they could be again fitted up. 
Some four weeks later it was decided to repeat the experiment with 
a smaller quantity of seeds; but before doing so 2“ of strong caustic 
potash solution was introduced into each of the eudiometers to absorb 
any carbonic acid gas that might be present. An hour and ten 
minutes later it was found that the column of mercury in no. 1 had 
risen 215™", and in no. 2, 220" above the level of the dish, the tem- 
perature being 21° C. as at the beginning of the experiment. Thus, 
there was remaining in no. 1, after reducing to standard pressure, 
32.49%, and in no. 2, 26.92% of gases. No.1 contained, when the 
Caustic potash solution was introduced, 99.5%, and no. 2, 98.5“ of 
gases ; hence no. 1 must have contained 67.01% of carbonic acid gas, 
Of which, on the assumption that atmospheric air is 21 parts oxygen 
Igor] 303 
