On the Assimilation of Nitrogen from Nitrates and 
Ammonium Salts by Phaenogams. 
BY 
Y. Kinoshita, NDgakushi. 
There exist many observations on the development of plants, 
as to whether nitrogen is supplied in the form of nitrates or in 
that of ammonium salts. One would naturally expect that 
ammonium salts would be the better source of nitrogen, because 
nitrates would have to undergo reduction to ammonia before 
assimilation proper (formation of proteids) could take place, thus 
causing not only loss of time, but also the waste of such organic 
material (most probably glucose) as serves for this reduction. 
But, contrary to expectation, nitrates have been found in many 
cases to act more favourably than ammonium salts. This result 
may be due to the noxious qualities which ammonium salts 
have in a higher concentration than that immediately needed 
in the cells. Nitrates can be stored up in roots and stems, 
but ammonium salts cannot. The question, therefore, presents 
itself, as to the form in which the nitrogen of ammonium salts is 
stored up, when these salts are absorbed in greater measure than 
that required for the immediate wants of the plant. 
Asparagine has been frequently found in the roots and bulbs 
of many plants, but it has not been positively ascertained yet, 
whether this compound is in these cases a decomposition 
product of proteids, as it is in germination, and in the starva¬ 
tion of plants kept in the dark. Some authors have assumed 
that this asparagine is formed in the leaves by the action 
of nitrates upon carbohydrates, and is then transported to 
the roots, while others have supposed its synthetical formation 
in the roots, leaving entirely unsettled whether nitrates, 
or ammonium salts, or both, equally well contribute to its 
formation. 
