Preliminary Study of Elongation of Roots of Georgia Collards as Affected by Sodium Luminal.

No study has hitherto been reported in botanical literature as to the toxic effects of sodium luminal on plant growth. Apparently, all of the work with sodium luminal of biological character which has been reported, with the exception of medical cases, has been based upon animal experimentation. Interest in phytopharmacology and phytotoxicology has been stimulated by the experiments of MACHT and KRANTZ (7) who determined the effect of digitalis solutions on the growth of seedlings. They found that the inhibition of the root-growth of Lupinus albus was proportional to the concentration of the digitalis solutions employed. Obviously, much information may be obtained by observing the behavior of plant tissue under the influence of sodium luminal. Since, however, no work on plant behavior in connection with sodium luminal, or luminal has previously been reported, it was considered advisable to simplify any problem selected and to eliminate all complicating factors possible, if practical. Georgia collards, a variety of Brassica oleracea, were chosen for the tests. They were the same kind of plants used by FARR (2) in his studies of the effect of solutions on the elongation of root hairs. The seed of Georgia collards was purchased from W. Atlee Burpee Co., Philadelphia, which company attested the purity of the seed. The main objects of the work here reported are: (1) the observation of any physiological reactions on the elongation of the roots of Georgia collards as affected by sodium luminal; and (2) the determination of any correlation between the root elongation of the seedlings used in the experiments and the concentration of sodium luminal.