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BOTANY: O.L. RABER 
In the case of most cations (such as sodium and calcium) an antago- 
nism curve is obtained but here just the opposite effect is seen. That is 
to say the chloride and citrate ions neither antagonise each other nor 
remain without effect upon each other, but the presence of the two ions 
in some way increases the action of both so that the resistance is much 
lower at any given instant than it would otherwise be from mere additive 
effects. It is for this and similar effects that the author proposes to use 
the name synergy , which is hence the antithesis of antagonism. In 
I 
RES 
FIG. 1. THE SYNERGETIC ACTION OF ELECTROLYTES 
Shown by curves of the electrical resistance of Lamitiaria, after fifteen minutes in sodium 
chloride, in sodium citrate and in mixtures of these (the proportions are indicated on the 
abscissae). Curve A, observed values. Curve B, values expected on the supposition that 
neither salt influences the action of the other (additive effect). Synergy is measured by the 
vertical distance between the curves. 
figure 1, therefore, the synergetic action is that shown by the distance 
between the curves A and B measured vertically, e.g., the distance ^4 5. 
Any other set of values (e.g., the five, ten, or twenty minute curves) 
shows similar results. 
That this is not a specific effect for these two salts is shown by like 
results with citrate combined with iodide, sulfocyanide, nitrate, and sul- 
fate, the data for which will be published later. Certain other experi- 
