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(ABSTRACT) 



By Dr. ARTHUR RANSOME, F.R.S. 



[Delivered before the Society on 14th Nov., igo8). 



WE have long been accustomed to the idea of the storage of 

 force when contemplating the phenomena of inanimate 

 nature, but in the present address we shall be strictly limited 

 to the consideration of the storage of material, and of the forces 

 resulting from its changes, within living organisms. I propose 

 to adduce some instances of this accumulation of power. 



My attention was first called to the subject many years ago, in 

 the course of some experiments upon the germination and early 

 growth of plants. Prof. Draper had made the assertion that — 

 *' If growth be conducted in darkness, heat, air, and water cannot 

 cause the young plant to add anything to its substance. It is 

 feeding on the seed. Indeed, when the experiment is carefully 

 made, it is found that there is an actual loss of substance ; the 

 resulting plant, if dried, weighing less than the dry seed from 

 which it came. Growth in darkness leads to one result, growth in 

 sunshine to another." — Human Physiology, 1856, p. 458. 



It seemed worth while to put this assertion to the test. It was 

 easy to ascertain the average loss of water on drying, in seeds and 

 bulbs, and to grow their counterparts in the light and in darkness, 

 and then to dry them carefully and note the differences in the 

 resulting weights. This was done for mustard seeds, peas, kidney 

 beans, crocus, snowdrops, and hyacinths. The result was entirely 

 opposed to Prof. Draper's statement. 



(1) In every case, whether in light or darkness, the plants 



(roots, seeds, stem and leaves) when dried, had lost a 

 certain amount of solid matter up to a certain point of 

 growth. 



(2) Up to the period of cultivation observed, in the case of 



mustard, i.e., when the plants attained a length of two 

 inches in light, and three inches in darkness, the amount 

 of loss was in close relation to the degree of growth. 



(3) Up to this point, in mustard, there was but little difference 



in the extent of loss, in the light and in the dark. 



(4) In the case of- peas and beans grown in the light, they 



began to gain in weight when the plants were from eight 

 to twelve inches in height, and when the third set of 

 leaves was sprouting. 



(5) The bulbs and the plants resulting continued to lose 



weight for a still longer time, and it seems probable that 

 it is only when the plant has ceased flowering, and when 

 the secondary bulbs are being formed, that there is any 



