EFFECTS OF SELECTION ON ALKALOIDS IN BELLADONNA. 



17 



Table VII. — Temperature, precipitation, and days of sunshine at Arlington, Va., 

 Madison, Wis., and Timmonsville, S. C, during May, June, July, and August, 1914- 





Temperature (° F.). 



Precipitation. 



Aspect of sky (days). * 



Station and month. 



Mean 

 maxi- 

 mum. 



Mean 

 mini- 

 mum. 



Mean. 



Total. 



Depart- 

 ure 

 from 



normal. 



Days 

 with 

 0.01 or 

 more. 



Clear. 



Partly 

 cloudy. 



Cloudy. 



Washington, D. C: i 



78 

 84 

 85 

 86 



55 

 64 

 67 

 66 



67 

 73.8 

 75.9 

 76.4 



Inches. 

 1.72 

 6.20 

 2.32 

 6.00 



Inches. 

 -2.1 



2 



-2.3 



1.6 



7 

 11 

 12 



10 



14 

 12 

 7 

 10 



11 

 12 

 12 

 13 



6 





6 



July 



12 





8 







Total 









16.24 







43 



48 



32 

















Florence, S. C: 2 



87.2 

 92.1 

 92.8 

 89.9 



57.4 

 68.9 

 68.5 

 69.3 



72.3 

 80.5 

 80.6 

 79.6 



1.70 

 3.88 

 3.31 

 4.19 





2 



7 



6 



10 



14 

 12 

 12 



8 



13 

 12 

 16 



15 



4 







6 



July 





3 







8 









Total 









13.08 







46 



56 



21 

















Madison, Wis.: 



69.7 

 75.7 

 83 

 79.6 



50.9 

 57.6 

 64.6 

 61 



60.3 



66.6 

 73.8 

 62.5 



5.97 

 3.46 

 1.49 

 3.60 



2.35 



-0.64 



-2.50 



.39 



13 



14 

 8 



7 



9 

 8 

 13 

 11 



14 

 12 

 13 

 12 



8 





10 



July 



5 





8 







Total 









14.52 







41 



51 



31 

















1 The conditions at Washington should approximate very closely those at Arlington, Va. 



2 About 7 miles from Timmonsville, S. C; volunteer observer. 



It has been claimed by some investigators that dry and sunny 

 seasons will result in greater alkaloid production than wet and cloudy 

 seasons. The data in Table VII will serve to throw some light on 

 this point. The plants from the three localities specified were all 

 grown from the same seed, and it would appear that if the contention 

 regarding climate were correct there should be some correlation be- 

 tween the quantity of alkaloids found and the seasonal conditions. 

 However, in the four months there is a difference of only about 3 

 inches in the rainfall and a difference of only five in the number of 

 sunny days. It is true that at Timmonsville the precipitation was 

 the least and the number of sunny days the greatest, and the per- 

 centage of alkaloids was also the greatest. It has already been 

 pointed out, however, that only one picking of leaves was secured at 

 this place, which may account for the high average percentage of 

 alkaloids found; and, furthermore, the difference in climatic con- 

 ditions is so small that little significance can be attached to it. It is 

 possible, of course, that differences in soil conditions at the three 

 stations may be sufficiently great to influence any relationship due 

 to climatic conditions which might otherwise be apparent. 



