Botanical Gazette 



FEBRUARY 1908 



THE TOXIC ACTION OF CERTAIN ORGANIC PL.\NT 



CONSTITUENTS 



Oswald Schreiner and Howard S. Reed^ 



(with seven figures) 



The 



tain compounds which, with few exceptions, occur naturally in vege- 



The 



for several years in studying the toxic properties of aqueous extracts of 1^ 

 unproductive soils. As a result of these studies it has been found, 



manv 



because of the presence in them of toxic organic compounds. It has 

 also been found that toxic excretions are produced by growing roots 



remain 



may exert a harmful 



or closely related species. Since these excretions are to be regarded, 

 in the light of our present knowIedgCj as products of plant metabolism 



which escape from the tissues of the plant, it becomes of some mterest 

 to study the action of compounds which are known to exist as such 

 in the tissues of plants and might persist in the soil or arise from 

 related bodies. 



Many instructive studies of toxic action of various inorganic and 

 organic compounds upon plants have been made. Those investi- 

 gatoi3 who studied the action of organic compounds have employed, 

 quite naturally, those which are more or less toxic to animal life ami 

 to bacteria. As a result, we have much information upon the action 

 of organic acids, phenols, aldehydes, terpenes, cyanogen, and volatile 

 oils. The oresent studv is intended to add some data upon the action 



Agriculture, 



73 



