ELECTRIC CORRELATION BETWEEN LIVING CELLS IN CORTEX AND WOOD IN THE DOUGLAS FIR

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Abstract
The results of the experiments constitute direct and conclusive evidence that the principle of summation of E.M.F.''s applies to phenomena of electric correlation between living cells in the Douglas fir. The orientation of the radial E.M.F. in the cortex is opposite to that in the wood. This radial E.M.F. in the cortex increases toward the apex, while that in the wood decreases. It is shown that the resultants of each one of the two systems of E.M.F.''s in the cortex and wood operate as if they are placed in series. Removal of a ring of living cortex which lies between two contacts placed on or in the wood axis results in a permanent change in the previously observed E.M.F. between these contacts. The direction of change depends upon the position of the contacts. Removal of similar rings of cortex from stems which had been killed by heat did not produce any such marked effects. Electromotive forces are present in stems killed by heat, but the behavior of such E.M.F.''s is radically different from those in the living cortex. Attention is called to the possible role under certain conditions of electric correlation currents in the wood as a source of energy for electroendosmotic transport of water upward in the conducting vessels of the wood. It is shown that all present known facts agree with this possibility.