28 



STUDIES ON FRUIT RESPIRATION. 



.0250- 



.0300 



.0350- 



AVERAGE- 



.0400 — 



.0450^ 



.0500- 



The chances are even that the best value of c = 

 0.0376 ±E, and are 4.5 to 1 that it is 0.0376 ±2E, 

 and 21 to 1 that it is 0.0376 ±3E, etc. 1 The distri- 

 bution of the forty-nine determined values of a with 

 respect to the mean value 0.0376 is shown graphically 

 in figure 15. 



By grouping arbitrarily into classes a frequency 

 curve may be constructed in the usual way. The 

 form of the curve changes greatly, however, accord- 

 ing as the classes are chosen and, as no relation not 

 already well illustrated by figure 15 is shown, the 

 frequency curve is not given. It will be seen that 

 a large proportion of the determinations of a are 

 very near the mean, while the few high and low 

 values are far removed. 



The results obtained by Clausen 2 in the study of 

 the respiration of wheat, lupin seedlings, and syringa 

 (lilac) between the temperatures 0° and 25° C. have 

 been cited by van't Hoff 3 as an illustration of the 

 fact that the rate of increase in intensity of respi- 

 ration with temperature is similar to the rate of 

 increase of chemical reactions. A rise in tempera- 

 ture of 10° increased the respiration intensity "2.46 

 times (on the average) with wheat, 2.45 times with 

 lupins, and 2.47 times with syringa (lilac)." Similar 

 facts have been developed by Blackman 4 in discuss- 

 ing the data obtained by Miss Matthaei 5 in the 

 study of the effect of temperature on the intensity 

 of respiration and assimilation. Here the number 

 of times by which the intensity increased for 

 10° C. rise has been calculated to be 2.4 and 3.1, 

 respectively. In the determinations of the rate of 

 respiration of fruits presented in this report the 

 average coefficient for a rise in temperature of 

 10° C. is 2.377 ±0.024. 6 That the respirator/ proc- 

 esses of fruits follow the same rule as do the 

 chemical reactions is a fact of great significance, 

 indicating that the fundamental life processes of 

 fruits are chemical. 



i Davenport and Rietz, loc. cit. 

 2'Landw. Jahrbucher, 1890, 19:893. 



3 Studies in Chemical Dynamics, trans, by Ewan, 1896, p. 126. 

 * Annals of Botany, 1905, 19: 281. See also Nature, 1908, 78: 556. 

 & Royal Society, London, Philos. Trans. 1905 (B). 197 : 65. 

 6 Calculated as shown on page 20. The quantity ±0.024 is the deviation due 

 to the probable error of a. 



