Abstract
THE following simple lecture-experiment may interest teachers of botany. It is described by Georg Klebs in his paper “Ueber d. Organisation d. Gallerte bei einigen Algen u. Flagellaten,” published in the most recent part of Unters. a. d. bot. Inst. z. Tubingen. A description of the experiment I give in Klebs's words, translated:—“It is easy to demonstrate, by addition of a watery solution of phenolphtalein, that Algæ make the water in which they live alkaline when they are fixing carbon in light. In proportion as the fixation of carbon proceeds, the water gradually assumes a deep red tinge, which gradually disappears when light is excluded.” The explanation given is:—“The Alga takes up not only the CO2 absorbed in the water, but also in part that which is in combination in acid carbonates, in consequence of which alkaline combinations arise; in darkness, owing to respiration, the reverse process takes place.”
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BALFOUR, B. Botanical Lecture Experiment. Nature 35, 126 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/035126c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/035126c0
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