198 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [SEPTEMBER 
very limited extent and only as a preliminary, with Fleischman’s 
“‘compressed yeast,” as will be shown later. 
This first experiment, with all its roughness, seemed of sufficient 
importance to repeat several times in order to be quite sure that there 
was no mistake about it. The results were similar in every respect, 
and I do not need to record them here. The following experiment 
shows the effect of some of the improvements suggested by the pre- 
ceding. 
Experiment 2.—Into each of six Dewar flasks of approximately 
equal capacity, which had been sterilized by being washed with a 
saturated aqueous solution of corrosive sublimate and rinsed with 
boiled distilled water (sterile), 80%™ of air-dry peas were put. The 
peas and the flasks were then sterilized by shaking the peas Very 
thoroughly in the flasks with a 1:500 aqueous solution of corrosive 
sublimate, and this was rinsed off with two wash-waters, both steril- 
ized. Fresh sterilized distilled water was then poured into the flasks 
and the peas soaked in them for twenty-four hours at a temperature 
which ranged from 20 to 22° in the oven in which I had placed the 
flasks. I did not take the temperatures in the flasks during this time, 
as my apparatus was not then so arranged as to make that possible. 
However, I shall repeat the experiment under constant temperature 
and with readings from the beginning. The data will be found in 
the accompanying table (p. 199). 
In this experiment fermentation and decay were reduced very 
greatly, though perhaps not as completely as possible. Therefore 
we have a very fair index of the amount of energy in the form of 
heat which 80%" of peas (weighed air-dry) can liberate in some- 
thing less than three days. We also see that, in all probability, the 
efficiency of the individual Dewar flasks varies considerably. *° 
efficiency of each flask should be determined and recorded. I have 
not done this because it would be useless unless pains were also 
taken to conduct the €xperiments in a constant temperature, and this 
I was not able to do at that time. I shall repeat the experiment under 
uniform conditions as soon as possible to arrange it. The ther- 
mometers used in this experiment were good ones, reading to tenths 
of a degree, loaned to me by the department of physiology of this 
university, and I take pleasure in thanking my friend Professor 
