404 
REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
From a Paper read before the Royal Society. 
ENGLISH. 
The Protoplasmic Factor in Photo- 
synthesis. 
The centre of interest in problems of 
the photo-reduction of CO, in green 
photo-synthesising cells is shifting from 
the chlorophyll to the protoplasm. 
The quantitative control of photo- 
synthesis in the normal green cell is 
determined protoplasmically. This is 
illustrated by the temperature relations 
which are not those of a photo-chemical 
reaction, but of a dark reaction. The 
photo-synthetic activities of leaves of 
different varieties (green v. golden leaves) 
and at different stages of development 
show no relation to the amount of 
chlorophyll that they contain, as is 
brought out by the ‘assimilation 
numbers’ of Willstatter. The relation 
between chlorophyll development and 
photo-synthesis development, described 
in the next communication, furnishes 
another instance of the dominance of 
factors other than the pigment. 
LATIN. 
De vi Protoplasmatis in Photo- 
Synthesi. 
In photo-reductione Carbonis Dioxidi, 
quae fit viridibus in cellis photo-synthesin 
efficientibus, protoplasma potius quam 
chlorophyllum hominum mentes nunc 
coepit occupare. Quanta enim fiat 
photo-synthesis in cellula viridi normali, 
ex protoplasmate potissimum pendet. 
Cuius reiid signum est quod temperaturae 
rationes non chemicae sed obscurae 
reactioni respondent. Neque enim 
photo-syntheticae potestates foliorum 
quae nec eodem genere sunt, e.g., viri- 
dium et flavorum, nec ad eundem vitae 
gradum pervenerunt cum quantitate 
chlorophylli quod continent ullam pro- 
portionem exhibent—id quod plane 
declarant ‘numeri assimilationis ” 
Willstatteriani.  Evolutio praeterea 
chlorophylli cum photo-synthesis evolu- 
tione comparata, quae in proxima 
relatione describetur, docet in hac re 
causas alias praeter pigmentum dominari. 
