48 



aquatic JLitt 



the society was named The Boston 

 Aquarian Society, its members being 

 known as Aquarians. Mr. Poyser's in- 

 formant expressed a humorous fear lest 

 a confusion of the titles Aquarian and 

 Aquarist lead to the latter being accused 

 of star-gazing. But however that might 

 be, aquarium lovers may take assurance 

 from the moral in the old story about the 

 little boy who, being a star-gazer, finally 

 fell into a pond while looking skyward — 

 which only shows that he was obliged to 

 direct his attention to aquatic life sooner 

 or later. 



It is true that the word Aquarian has 

 proved most versatile, having found a 

 place successively in the realms of re- 

 ligion, pisciculture and astrology; but 

 Aquarist, being capable of but a single 

 construction, seems to hold the advan- 

 tage. — Reprinted by permission from the 

 Zoological Society Bulletin, New York. 



Photosynthesis 



When it was first discovered that 

 green plants take in carbon dioxide and 

 give out oxygen, it was natural to sup- 

 pose that this gas exchange represented 

 the respiration of plants. Since the 

 gas exchange in the respiration of ani- 

 mals is just the reverse, the opinion be- 

 came current that plants and animals 

 differ in their "breathing." Since this 

 impression is still current, its correc- 

 tion should be emphasized. It is clear 

 that photosynthesis has nothing to do 

 with respiration, for respiration is asso- 

 ciated with what may be called the act 

 of living, and therefore is carried on by 

 every living thing all of the time. If 

 respiration stops, the plant or animal 

 is dead ; in fact, we use respiration as a 

 sign of life. Therefore plants and ani- 

 mals "breathe" alike, both taking in 

 oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide; 

 but green plants carry on the process 



of photosynthesis also, in connection 

 with which carbon dioxide is taken in 

 and oxygen is given out. The confusion 

 arose from the fact that during the 

 day, when photosynthesis is going on, 

 the amount of gas exchange involved in 

 the manufacture of carbohydrates is so 

 much greater than the amount involved 

 in respiration, that the latter was not 

 noticed. If the observation had been 

 extended into the night, however, it 

 would have been discovered that only 

 the gas exchange of respiration was 

 being carried on. 



Carbohydrates are by no means the 

 only foods that plants make, and there- 

 fore photosynthesis is not their only 

 process of food manufacture. Another 

 conspicuous group of foods is the group 

 of proteins, which may be regarded as 

 foods in the most advanced stage as liv- 

 ing photoplasin is largely composed of 

 proteins. Carbohydrates, therefore, may 

 be thought of as the first stage of food, 

 and protein as the last stage. It is 

 known that neither light nor chlorophyll 

 is required for the manufacture of pro- 

 tein, for the process goes on in living 

 cells removed from light, and in plants 

 containing no chlorophyll. It is known, 

 however, that carbohydrates are used, 

 and that to the carbon, hydrogen, and 

 oxygen supplied by them, the elements 

 nitrogen, sulphur, and often phosphorus 

 are added, and these elements are ob- 

 tained from their combinations in the 

 salts of the soil. 



The role of green plants in the world, 

 therefore, is evident. It is only by them 

 that food can be made from that which 

 is not food. For this reason they are the 

 only independent organisms, that is, in- 

 dependent of the work of other organ- 

 isms. When we see the phrase "nothing 

 but leaves," with its implication of fail- 

 ure, we must realize that leaves stand 

 for the most fundamental of all the work 

 of the earth, without which there would 

 be no world of living beings. — American 

 Museum Journal. 



