Mason — Preliminary Notes on the Carbohydrates of the Musci. 25 



The rise in the sucrose graph may be due either to an actual rise in the 

 quantity of sucrose, or to a fall in the amount of hexoses owing to trans- 

 location, respiration, &c. A rise in the amount of sucrose is rendered almost 

 certain, since a fall in the hexoses would involve an enormous diminution 

 of total sugar. 



(1.26) 



4.45. A.M. 



7.45 



9.15. 



The rather strange "hang" in the sucrose graph between 6.15 and 

 7.45 a.m. may be due to a more rapid inversion of sucrose than formerly ; if 

 such be the case, we must suppose that assimilation increased at a very great 

 rate between 7.45 and 9.15 a.m., or else that translocation became more brisk ; 

 both factors may have been in operation. On the other hand, any slight 

 unevenness in the third sample would be quite sufficient to explain the 

 apparent hang. 



It seems fairly clear, however, that sucrose is the first sugar to accumulate 

 on illumination. If it is assumed that the hexoses are the first sugars to be 

 formed in the plastid on exposure to light, it is difficult to see why, instead oi 

 accumulating, condensation to sucrose should be necessary. 



