AMERICAN!^' DEC 261916 %) 
JOURNAL OF BO^ 
Vol. Ill November, 1916 No. 9 
SPECIFIC ACTION OF BARIUM 
W. J. V. OSTERHOUT 
In order to arrive at a satisfactory theory of living matter it is 
necessary to know the specific manner in which individual sub- 
stances affect metabolism. Usually our attempts to arrive at this 
kind of knowledge are very unsatisfactory. When plants grow in water 
cultures we can say what elements are indispensable but as a rule we 
can not tell with certainty by inspecting a plant what particular element 
is lacking in the nutrient medium in which it grew. Similarly when 
plants are killed or injured by poisons we can seldom by inspection say 
exactly what particular agent produced the effect. It would seem 
however that precisely this sort of knowledge should be sought for on 
account of its theoretical and practical importance. 
In the course of investigations in the action of salts the writer 
has found cases in which this kind of information is apparently ob- 
tainable. One of the most striking of these is observed when certain 
species of Spirogyra are subjected to the action of barium. 
The Spirogyra used in most of these investigations was a large 
form of the crassa type. On placing this in .0001 M BaCU there 
was a peculiar and very characteristic contraction of the chloroplasts 
in the center of the cell. In the neighborhood of the nucleus the 
chloroplasts contracted so strongly that they formed a very compact 
green mass, like a closely twisted rope. The diameter of this mass was 
about one fourth to one third of that of the cell. At the ends of the 
cell little or no contraction occurred. At the same time the wavy 
outline of the chloroplasts disappeared so that their edges became 
relatively even and smooth (this however is not a specific effect of 
barium). 
An interesting feature of this process is that the protoplasm does 
not contract away from the cell wall but remains in place. It is 
[The Journal for October (3: 393-480) was issued Oct. 20, 1916.] 
