152 Carbon Assiniitation. 



in their experiment with the Neguudo leaf that 4*2% of the total 

 incident energy is absorbed by the chlorophyll. These incidental 

 numbers have been given some importance by Weigert, who 



assumes from them that — or 98% is the efficiency of the assimil- 



atory system. This result is indeed, as Weigert himself admits, 



surprising, and he regards the plant as the most ideal photochemical 



machine which could possibly exist. Presumably Weigert would 



have been still more surprised if he had chosen a value from 



another of Brown and Escombe's experiments in which 4-48% of 



the total energy received by the leaf was used in assimilation. This 



4*48 

 by his method would have given an efficiency of -pj or 107%. 



But without this absurdity it is clear that numbers obtained 

 from such data are completely valueless. 



