Abstract
WHEN conducting a series of physiological experiments on the transpiration of fluid by leaves, it became a matter of importance to determine the rapidity of ascent of fluid. My colleague, Prof. Church, had suggested for another series of experiments the use of lithium citrate, a salt easily taken up by plants, and one which can be detected with the greatest readiness by means of the spectroscope. Preference was given to the citrate, because of its containing an organic acid, and on this account not likely to meet with any obstruction to its passage from the tissues. This method I have used with great success. In one experiment the fluid had risen nine inches in thirty minutes, in another five and a half inches in ten minutes. This method is greatly superior to the use of colouring matters, which seem to experience considerable resistance in their passage through the vessels. Full particulars of these and numerous other experiments in the same direction will shortly be published.
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M'NAB, W. On a Method of Ascertaining the Rate of Ascent of Fluid in Plants. Nature 2, 515 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/002515a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/002515a0
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