AusuST 7, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



215 



Lot 3 in 50 c.e. ^ molecular NaNOj contain- 

 ing i per cent, ether. At the end of eight 

 hours, the water was removed from each lot, 

 evaporated in quartz vessels to 3 c.c. and ex- 

 amined with the nephelometer. The water 

 from lot 2 contained i, and that from lot 3 

 contained I as much chlorides as that from 

 lot 1. 



Two conclusions may be drawn from these 

 experiments. 



1. Pure salt solutions or anesthetics, in con- 

 centrations approaching the lethal dose, irre- 

 versibly increase the permeability. 



2. Anesthetics in about i the above concen- 

 tration (which is about the concentration for 

 narcosis) antagonize the action of pure salt 

 solutions, so that the combined action is less 

 than the action of the salt alone in increasing 

 permeability. 



It has been shown that the permeability of 

 muscle is increased by stimulation.^ Anes- 

 thetics in certain concentrations tend to in- 

 hibit the stimulation of muscle. Perhaps they 

 do so by inhibiting the increase in permeabil- 

 ity. This idea is not new, but new facts are 

 brought in support of it. 



J. P. McClendon 

 Physiological Laboeatokt, 

 University of Minn. Medical School, 

 June 1, 1914 



THE EFFECT OF SOIL CONDITIONS ON THE TASSELS 

 OF MAIZE 



Considerable work has been done on the ef- 

 fect of various factors of environment on the 

 growth of the maize plant. Most of these 

 studies have been confined to the pistillate 

 jlowers, or the ear, and comparatively little at- 

 tention has been given to the tassel which pro- 

 duces the pollen. 



Lazenby,^ on studying a number of varieties 

 of com, showed that the number of flowers 

 upon a stalk varied widely even in the same 

 variety. He also found a certain relation be- 

 tween the number of pistillate and staminate 



1 Lazenby, W. E., ' ' The Flowering and Pollina- 

 tion of Indian Corn," Froc. Soc. Prom. Agr. Sci. 

 (1898), pp. 123-129. 



2 MeClendon, Am. Journal Physiology, Vol. 29, 

 p. 302. 



flowers produced by the corn. This relation 

 was not the same for all types. 



In work carried on at the Utah Experiment 

 Station by the author and his associates on the 

 effect of soil factors on plants, a study was 

 made of the number of branches produced in 

 the tassels of maize. 



The corn was raised at the Greenville experi- 

 mental farm on a uniform soil that had re- 

 ceived no manure for many years previous to 

 beginning this experiment in 1911. There 

 were 36 plats in all, 12 having no manure ap- 

 plied, 12 receiving at the rate of 5 tons to the 

 acre and 12 receiving 15 tons. The size of 

 each plat was Yx24 feet. 



Each manuring treatment contained six dif- 

 ferent irrigation treatments of two plats each 

 as follows: (1) no irrigation, (2) 5 inches, (3) 

 10 inches, (4) 20 inches, (5) 30 inches and 

 (6) 40 inches. The water was applied in irri- 

 gations of five inches each. When the plants 

 were a few inches high they were thinned so 

 that each plat contained the same number of 

 plants. 



Before harvesting a count was made of the 

 number of branches in the tassel of each plant 

 and averages made for the plats. A record of 

 the number of ears produced on each plat was 

 also made. The work has been carried on for 

 three years. A summary of the results fol- 

 lows: 



EFFECT OP MANURE ON THE NUMBER OF BRANCHES 

 FEE TASSEL OF MAIZE 



The number of ears produced on each plat 

 was as follows: 



