THE FORMATIVE FORCE IN PLANT SAPS
Variability of the Sap Pictures
As mentioned in the introduction a metalsalt solution is used as reagent when examining plant saps. The sap rises first in the paper by capillary attraction, and when it is dry the metalsalt solution is set to follow This rises to break through the line formed by the sap and then carries the latter still higher up the paper. In this manner an arrangement of forms and colors spreads out over the surface of the paper - a so called filter paper picture appears. One finished with gold chloride is reproduced in the front piece, one with silver nitrate in Plate 1.
Plate two shows the two main stages in making a picture. The two papers on the left contain freshly extracted sap of mistletoe from an apple tree, and the two on the right the same sap after the reagent, in this case a solution of goldchloride (AuCl3) 1% had been added. It is clear that that the uniform colored area containing the sap alone is considerably increased as well as differentiated when the, metalsalt solution streams through it.
Plates 3, 4, and 5, give an impression of some of the different form types that can appear as a result of the procedure. They illustrate the mistletoe sap test made daily during July 1955 and February 1957, 1961.
Some pictures stand out, for example those of July 20 and 21, 1955 in Plate 3 and February 1 and 5, 1957 in Plate 4. It is often asked if these particular forms result from irregularities in the paper, This is not the case: manufacturing faults are so rare that only two or three imperfect sheets were found among over 70,000 used to date. Imperfections show as small, isolated, discolored flecks or patches that do not distort the pattern the liquids produce.
Duplicate Test
To guard against objections that sudden changes or particular forms are caused by faults in the paper, or even by inaccurate work, all saps are tested in at least two papers, with each metalsalt reagent used. Plate 6 shows tests of four mistletoe saps with goldchloride. The two tests of each sap are placed one above the other. The duplicates are not identical in the way that two prints from the same photographic negative would be, but they are unmistakably alike. There would be no difficulty in matching any of the test pictures with its duplicate. Every sap will produce the same forms in any number of papers with which it is tested. Valuable experience in judging similar form values can be gained by studying the kind of minor differences that numerous tests made from the same sap may show within their basic "sameness".
The variety of the tests obtained from day to day under the same experimental conditions is very great, and calls for a numbers of investigations.
The Viscosity of the Sap
Pictures like that of February 10, 1957 in Plate 4 give the impression that some technical cause prevented the reagent from rising.
Plate 7 shows how often this these pictures appear at certain times. Mistakes and dry atmospheric conditions in the laboratory can be ruled out: all pictures are made under the same conditions. It is often found that when tests from plants picked at different times are developed at the same time, some rise normally, some not. Experiments which are described in part II show that although plant saps with different degrees of viscosity rise to different heights in the filterpaper, the height the reagents reach is not affected by these differences. At first sight most of the pictures give the impression that a thick crust formed by the sap prevented the reagent from breaking through. The reagent often stops, though considerably bellow the sap line, as on July 29. It is clear that obstruction is not always the cause of this kind of test picture.
THE WEATHER:
Might the failures of the test to develop be the result of a preceding period of dry weather? Does rainfall affect the plant saps in a way that shows in the filterpaper pictures. The official rainfall figures for the district were considered in connection with the sap pictures. It was found that during a dry month with only half an inch of rain, every picture developed to a normal height whereas during a month with seven and a half inches, one third of the test developed only partially or not at all.
Comparisons of pictures made from mistletoe picked every day during two consecutive months showed an unbroken series of pictures of the same basic type, although the rainfall during one of these months was sixteen times more than the other.
Very many other similar comparisons led to the same conclusion, that the amount of rainfall does not influence the sap in a way that shows in the test. The quality in the sap that produces undeveloped test can not be connected with dry weather.
The volume of sap extracted each day from the same quantity of mistletoe was measured and recorded. The curves based on the sap yield show that in this respect also the plant is not immediately affected by rainfall.
In winter mistletoe is often thickly coated with frost and the leaves sometimes limp and dark in color. They soon regain their usual green color, and the sap pictures show nothing unusual. One year the mistletoe on the host tree used was encased for three days in a coat of clear ice several millimeters thick. But the sap pictures showed no signs of these unusual circumstances. Extreme atmospheric and ground temperatures do not affect the plant sap in a way that shows in the test.
THE SEASONS:
The visible form of the plant changes with the seasons, developing in the same way from year to year. The forms that appear in the filter paper shows that the plant mirrors quickly changing "time pictures" in its sap. These remain hidden till the capillary-dynamic process makes them visible. The pictures made every day for over twelve years from the same parts of the plant, namely the grown leaves and stems of apple mistletoe show that these changing time pictures are independent of the seasons. There is no picture type from them for any particular season. Pictures made during different seasons in different years can be similar enough to be mistaken for duplicates of the same sap.
Plates 3, 4, 5, and 7 make the lack of seasonal influence on the sap of leaves and stems particualry clear. They show the pictures obtained from mistletoe picked at the same time every day during the winter and summer months of february 1957, 1961 and July 1955 and 1957
It might be asked if mistletoe, because it is a half parasite is an exception in this respect. A survey of the pictures made from hellebore and iris during the same twelve years led to the same conclusion: the form trends in the sap of the same part of the plant are independent of the seasons. Some other causes for the constant changes must be sought.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN THE PAPER:
Questions arise as to the nature of the processes that take place in the paper.The part played by chemical processes will be disregarded. A number of observations listed below made it clear that a study of the chemical reactions between plant substance and metalsalt solution would not bring us further in the search for the cause of the continual changes in form in the capillary dynamic test.
a) Plate 30: Different metalsalts in solution produce different chemical reactions with the same sap, yet these same metalsalt solutions used as reagents on this sap produce capillary dynamic test with the same formative trends.
b) Any metalsalt in solution produces different chemical reactions according to whether it is mixed with the sap of mistletoe, iris or hellebore. yet if these three plants are picked at the same time and their saps examined by capillary dynamolysis with this same metalsalt solution on each as reagent, the same formative impulse shows in all three test, though it usually varies in strength and color.
c) Plate 26 When the procedure is reversed so that the plant sap rises through the metalsalt solution in a paper, no forms appear although the substances are the same.
d) If the sap and reagent are mixed and then set to rise in the paper by capillary attraction, they produce a formless colored area. When the whole paper is immersed in the mixture to catch the reaction as quickly as possible, the result is again formless.
e) Mistletoe sap was treated in a centrifuge, 5000 rot per minute for 10 minutes. The liquid separated from the mass of deposited substance was compared by capillary dynamolysis with the original untreated sap. The liquid and the untreated sap showed the same form strength with silver nitrate as reagent. The only difference was that the usual dark band at the bottom of the paper was absent in the test made from the liquid. An enquiry into less complicated questions brought us further.
THE PART PLAYED BY THE REAGENT:
Questions related to the capillary dynamic test procedure itself were considered. What is the function of the reagent? Plant sap studies must be carried out in two stages between which a considerable amount of time elapses. It is known from the work of L. Kolisko that the time when the metalsalt solution rise in the paper, for example during the eclipse of the Sun or Moon, is of primary importance. Is the time when the metalsalt solution rises as reagent to a plant sap important? Experiments have shown that the reagent is necessary to develop the picture , but the time when it does so is not important.
THE PLANT:
As regards the plant, does the time of picking or the time the sap rises in the paper determine the picture? Another experiment described in Part II answers this question. It was found that without doubt the time when the plant is picked determines the form pattern in its sap. This means that the capillary dynamic test gives an insight into an unsuspected activity in plants. As long as they are connected with the Earth they reflect constantly changing time pictures in their sap, as the surface of water does the image of passing clouds. When a plant is picked or uprooted it loses this capacity and holds the picture of its last moment in connection with the earth. Very marked forms evident in fresh sap can still be seen when test are made months later, altered but recognizable in spite of the fermentation of the sap. This fact shows that plants are more inwardly connected with the Earth and with Time then is generally realized.
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PLANT:
Plate 8 The saps from different parts of a good many plants were examined to see whether the separate parts, root, leaf, bud, flower would all produce the same test picture. It was found that each plant has its own picture but that its different parts produce variations on this individual theme.
Plate 8 demonstrates the differences in the sap of different parts of apple mistletoe. The dates refer to the times of picking the twigs.
Top Row: The first four pictures from the left were made from the leaf sap, the last two from a mixture of two parts leaf to one of stem as used for the daily test.
Bottom Row: The first two pictures from the left were made from the sap extracted from the stems of the leaves used for the tests placed immediately above them. The next two pictures were obtained from the sap of the buds on the same twigs as the leaves that provided the sap for the two pictures exactly above. The last two pictures were made with the extract from berries. They contrast strongly with the results obtained from the leaf and stem sap shown directly above them.
(This last contrast is more fundamental than in the other cases. The extract from the berries is the exception: it does not answer to the passing influences to which the sap from other parts of the plant is subject. Many test pictures made in successive years demonstrate clearly the isolation of the fruit. The picture series were the same each year, showing only the stagers of development through which the berries passed from their earliest appearance to ripeness and beyond.)
It will now be clear that it is important to use the same part or parts of a plant when making comparisons, for example between mistletoe from deciduous and coniferous trees or between the different varieties of hellebore.
STAGES OF GROWTH:
Is there a difference between the sap from younger and older parts of a plant? Does the stage of growth affect the capillary dynamic picture of the sap?
Mistletoe is an evergreen plant that grows new leaves every year so it is possible to compare the sap of these with that of grown leaves on the same twigs. Experiments have shown that four main stages of growth can be distinguished.
Plate 9 shows the first and second stages of growth. The three pictures on the left of each row show the results obtained from the sap of the first year leaves, the three on the right those obtained from the second year leaves of the same twigs.
The first year leaves at this stage and for some time after have a lighter, fresher green color than the second year ones, but in spite of this the fresh sap from the young leaves is distinctly brown green in color (The optical density of mistletoe spas was followed in the wave length region 365 -680, that shows the chlorophyll, from February to September. No connections were found with the change from undeveloped to developed capillary tests of the same samples). After the goldchloride reagent has risen the test papers that contain the absorbed sap of the first year leaves show a broader purple color-band at the bottom, than the papers that contain the sap of the second year leaves. This gives the impression that the constitution of the young saps is different from that of the old, and that the failure to develop the tests could be due to some physical cause, such as blockage of the capillaries. The failure of tests to develop has already been mentioned in connection with the viscosity of the sap.
The three tests of first year leaf saps made in 1959 , top row left, were made from mistletoe picked twice on June 3 at 8:00 a.m. and again at 10:30 a.m. and on June 4 at 8:00 a.m. These three saps showed practically the same degree of viscosity. The first test on June 3rd is chaotic, the second shows some flowing forms, but in places the reagent stopped before it reached the level attained by the sap, and so was obviously not blocked. The test of June 4 is harmonious and well developed. All these test are characterized by the broad band at the base. They show well the actual transition from first to second stage of growth from June 3 to June 4. In 1963 the change took place from June 13 to June 14. Many saps extracted from the grown leaves or leaves and stems at different times produce the broad band at the bottom of the test-paper, and yet the reagent rises through it without difficulty. Examples can be seen in plates 4 and 5, and some test in plate 8.
Whatever the cause, the sap of very young mistletoe leaves does not develop filterpaper pictures made with it. The capillary dynamic test registers a definite stage in their growth. The sap of very young wheat leaves often showed the same incapability to develop the test, to lack formative power. It seems as if very young leaves do not take part in all the activities of the grown leaves.
In the second comparatively short stage of growth, the sap of the young mistletoe leaves produced fewer and simpler pictures than that of the second year leaves. Examples of this stage can also be seen in plate 9 on June 2, 1961 and on June 3, 1964.
On several occasions the extract from the small unfolding leaves of first year helleborus foetidus plant was compared with that from large outer leaves of the same bush. The young leaf sap produced pictures with less form than that of the older ones. It is conceivable that these pictures captured the second stage of growth, although the stages are difficult to follow with certainty with annual and biennial plants.
Plate 10 shows the third stage of growth. The sap of the growing mistletoe leaves to be seen in the top row produces more involved and stronger forms in the test than that of the older leaves from the same twigs, the tests of which are placed in the lower row. The reagent in this case was silver nitrate 1%.
The fourth stage, not illustrated, is reached when the sap of the first year parts produce pictures equal in form value to that of the older parts. This seems to be the case till the older leaves prepare to fall. The age of the mistletoe bush itself affects the sap pictures. Twigs from very young bushes should not be used in the same series as those from old bushes, or mistletoe from young healthy trees with that from very old or dying trees. The picture type remains the same, but the strength of the form in it varies.
As the stage of growth affects the degree of form that appears in the sap picture, this fact had to be taken into account also in the long series shown here.
it is intersting that the habitate of the host tree does not affect the mistletoe picture. In the few cases where it was possible to arrange to pick mistletoe at the same time in places hundreds of miles apart, the sap pictures were similar. At other times when a sudden change appeared for example in the color combination in certain experiments, the same was evident in the pictures of mistletoe picked on the same day in distant places.
Conclusion on the variability of Sap Pictures:
The changes that appear in the sap in spite of constant working conditions are not chaotic. Variations in form and color gradually change the whole into something new. The birth and passing away of a form or color wave can cover weeks or only a few days. Sometimes very sudden but short-lived changes take place: certain picture types appear, disappear, only to re-appear months or even years latter. If a connection could be found between these "Form Waves" in Time and calculable natural rhythms, it ought to be possible to find out what causes the changes in the saps. This would enable the probable form quality in the plant sap to be foretold for the immediate future. The variations in the play of formative forces in the sap of a medicinal plant for instance, might well have to do with variations in its degree of efficacy. It is known that medicinal herbs were gathered in the past at particular times according to some faculty or knowledge lost to most country folk today. The new knowledge applied, would enable medicinal herbs to be picked again at the time of their greatest efficacy.
SUMMARY ON VARIABILITY OF SAP:
The plant sap itself determines the forms that become visible in the capillary dynamic picture.
The reagent develops the picture independently of when it is added.
The formative qualities that appear in the sap picture depend on the time the plant is picked.
Plants reflect perpetually changing "time pictures" in their sap. When they are severed from their connection with the Earth this activity ceases, and the sap holds the form seal of the last moment.
The sap from different parts of the same plant shows different strengths of formative power.
Four chief stages of growth cab be distinguished from the complexity of form that the saps produce in the test pictures.
The habitat of the plant does not appear to affect its sap in a way that shows in the capillary dynamic picture.
Comparisons in any long series should only be made between plants in the same stage of growth picked at the same time.
The formative forces in the sap are not directly influenced by weather or the seasons. The causes of the constant changes must be sought elsewhere.