On the Formation of Asparagine in Plants under 
Different Conditions. 
BY 
U. Suzuki, Nôgahishi. 
Although the question of asparagine production in plants 
has often been the object of investigation, many points are still 
left unsettled, and in certain respects, even contradictory state¬ 
ments, not only in regard to its production, but also in regard to 
its transformation into proteids, are met with. The production 
of asparagine from proteids during the germination process has 
been quantitatively followed up by E. SCHULZE, but thus far, all 
the explanations attempted have proved unsatisfactory ; therefore 
Dr. O. Loew has proposed a new view which seems to accord 
better with various facts. (1) According to this view asparagine is a 
synthetical product, into which the ammonia of the decomposed 
proteids is transformed. Recently some experiments have been 
made by Mr. KlNOSHITA in the laboratory of the Agricultural 
College, Imperial University, which show that the ammonia 
taken up by the roots may also pass into asparagine ; but as these 
experiments were made with only two kinds of Gramineæ it 
appeared to me necessary, in view of the importance of the ques¬ 
tion, to carry out a larger number of experiments, to test whether 
this transformation takes place in different families and in dif¬ 
ferent states of development. Furthermore, I desired to compare 
quantitatively the asparagine production from different ammonium 
salts (2) and from nitrates, and to determine how the results are 
affected by the increase of sugar. These experiments are des¬ 
cribed in the following pages, while the analytical data follow in 
an appendix. 
I. Experiments with sun-flower (Helianthus animus). 
The young sun-flower plants, 30-40°-™* high, were taken very 
carefully from the field, and after washing the roots, placed in 
the following solutions kept in a glass house : 
(1) Cf. The Energy of Living Protoplasm, London, 1896. p. 38. 
(2) In some cases I also applied urea. 
