1910] SCHREINER & SKINNER—ABSORPTION AND GROWTH 15 
phosphate line are also noticed to have turned so far that some of 
them take a position even slightly above this line. There is a general 
tendency, moreover, for all of the points to lie somewhat higher for 
the other cultures, thus showing that this influence is probably com- 
mon to all the cultures, though seen most strikingly in those contain- 
ing small amounts, where an actual reversal takes place. This 
P29 
Al 
K20 NH- 
Fic. 6.—Showing the ratio of the original, the final, and the ratio of the loss of 
POs, NH,, and K,O from the culture solution in the first period. 
general result may be interpreted to mean that the relative amount 
of phosphate removed in the early stages of the seedlings is not so 
great as it is subsequently, and the phenomenon can probably be 
correlated with the fact that in experiments where distilled water is 
used rather than these solution cultures, phosphate is excreted by 
the germinating seed and can be detected in the water in which 
germinating seeds or young seedlings bathe. Although the seedlings 
when used in these experiments have passed in the main through this 
