532 The Philippine Journal of Science 1920 
Increased growth is reported to have followed the application 
of sodium chloride to the soil, especially in the case of experi- 
ments carried out in the British Isles . 17 From the point of view 
of physiology it is of course possible that under certain condi- 
tions the addition of chlorides to a nutrient solution may produce 
increased growth, as has been found for many salts of proved 
toxic action . 18 
Not only alterations in the amount of substance produced but 
also changes in the structure and physiological nature of plants 
have been brought about by the addition of chlorides to the 
nutrient medium . 19 Harter 20 found that the addition of sodium 
chloride to the soil of experimental cultures might either in- 
crease or decrease the transpiration rate, and alter the structure 
of wheat, oat, and barley plants. 
It is possible that chlorides may affect certain special meta- 
bolic processes and thus influence the plant more in one stage 
of its development than in another. Nobbe and his coworkers 
reported that chlorides were beneficial for the production of seed 
by buckwheat plants. He considered that this result was due 
to an influence exerted by chlorine upon the translocation of 
carbohydrate food ; but Nobbe’s observations have not been sub- 
stantiated by more recent research. 
It seems to be well established that many kinds of plants may 
be grown Successfully in liquid media without any chloride. 
Nevertheless, most of the culture solutions recommended in the 
literature of plant physiology include a chloride. The following 
solutions may be mentioned as belonging to this class: 
17 Dyer, B., Field experiments on cabbages at Rusper, Horsham, Joum. 
Roy. Agric. Soc. England, II 23 (1887) 425-430. Gonehalli, V. H., Com- 
mon salt and its use as manure in the Konkan Division, Dept. Agric. Bombay 
Bull. 29, 19 pp. 1914. Voelcker, G. A., Experiments on the use of salt 
for mangolds, Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc. England 69 (1908) 355-366. Grif- 
bfths, A. B., A treatise on Manure, or the Philosophy of Manuring. London 
(1889) 399 pp. 
18 Brenchley, W. E., Inorganic Plant Poisons and Stimulants. Cambridge 
(1914) 110 pp. 
19 Hansteen, B., Ueber das Verhalten der Kulturpflanzen zu den Boden- 
salzen, I. and II. Jahrb. f. wiss. Bot. 47 (1910) 289-376. 
20 Harter, L. L., The influence of a mixture of soluble salts, principally 
sodium chloride, upon the leaf structure and transpiration of wheat, oats, 
and barley, Bull. U. S. Dept. Agric. Bur. PI. Ind. 134 (1908) 22 pp. 
