Le mouvement géotropique des feuilles chez la Sensitive (Mimosa pudica) soumise à l'influence d'un agent anesthésique

In Mimosa pudica L., the geotropic movement (a slow variety of leaf movement) induced by inverting plants in the gravific field is reversibly inhibited by diethyloxide used in a range of concentrations producing, reversibly, in the same plant, inhibition of the seismonastic leaf movement (a quick variety of leaf movement) and in other organisms, inhibition of various cellular functions such as photosynthesis, caryocinesis, and bacterial luminescence.The degree of inhibition of geotropic leaf movement is dependent upon the concentration of ether, the duration of etherization, the time of anaesthetic admission, and the sequence of the motor organs. Results led to the following conclusions: preliminary etherization of plants, in vertical position, decreases rate of the geotropic movement; etherization occurring during the course of this movement can stop it in certain conditions; geotropic movement is more inhibitedin primary than in secondary motor organs, whereas the opposite occurs in seismonastic movement.The discussion deals with the contribution of these results to the knowledge of leaf geotropism.