Experiments on Absorption of Salt-Marsh Plants 129 
plants were left in air and allowed to transpire before immersion’ 
Some plants were taken from the soil, prepared and weighed, and 
then left for 45 hours in air before they were immersed overnight 
in a 3% solution of sodium chloride. Plants so left differ little in 
appearance from fresh plants, only they are slightly limp. The 
“ rigid skeleton ” prevents any visible signs of flagging. The results 
obtained are given in Table IV. 
TABLE IV. 
Salicornia immersed in 3% NaCl. 
Locality from which plants were 
obtained and date of 
experiment. 
Weight in 
grains of 
succulent 
part of 
plant at 
beginning 
of experi¬ 
ment. 
Dry 
weight in 
grammes 
of 
succulent 
part of 
plant. 
Loss of 
weight in 
grammes 
in air in 45 
hours. 
Gain of 
weight in 
grammes 
in3J 
NaCl. in 
approxi¬ 
mately 24 
hours. 
Gain of 
weight 
calculated 
as a per¬ 
centage of 
water in 
succulent 
part of plant 
at time of 
immersion. 
Blakeney, 19/7/TO (1) 
1-0056 
0-0694 
0-2084 
0-1516 
20-8% 
„ „ (2) 
0-7318 
0-0562 
0-1548 
0-1180 
22-7% 
(3) 
0-6642 
0-0477 
0-2036 
0-1802 
43-6% 
„ (4) 
0-7162 
0-0528 
0-1842 
0-1850 
38-6% 
„ „ (5) 
0-4668 
0-0328 
0-1230 
0-1426 
45-8% 
,, (*j) 
0-3430 
0-0266 
0-1252 
0-1026 
53-7% 
The increase in weight during immersion was approximately 
the same as the decrease due to transpiration, so that the 
average percentage of water in the plant at the end of the experi¬ 
ment was only a little lower than at the beginning. The time of 
immersion was much less than the time of transpiration. The 
calculated percentages of water in the succulent parts of the plants 
at the beginning of the experiment, after transpiration, and after 
immersion in the salt solution are given in Table V. 
TABLE V. 
Salicornia , sp. 
Locality from which plant was 
obtained and date of 
experiment. 
Percentage of 
water in succulent 
part of plant 
at beginning of 
experiment. 
Percentage of 
water in succulent 
part of plant 
after 
transpiration. 
'■n 
Percentage of 
water in succulent 
part of plant 
after immersion. 
From Blakeney, 19/7/T0 (1) 
93-1 
91-3 
92-7 
,, ,, >t (2) 
92-3 
90-3 
91-9 
„ „ „ (3) 
92-8 
89-6 
92-6 
» > 5 > 1’ ( 1 ) 
92-6 
90-1 
92-6 
„ (5) 
93-0 
90-5 
93-3 
,, ii ii ( 6 ) 
92-2 
88-3 
91-7 
The difference in the amount of water absorbed, due to the 
difference in the turgidity of the cells, is seen by comparing the 
figures in the last columns of Tables III and IV. 
