1. The mother tuber of the scission of the potato plants serves not only as the supplyer of the nourishments to the buds but also as the substitute of the roots, especially before the latter appeal on the sprout, the latter survice being very important for the growth of the sprout. The more important effect on the scissioning of the tuber is therefore to be ascribed to the latter function or water supply.
From the above consideration, we have to study not only the minimum available size of the scission but also the mode of cutting of the stock tuber on the purpose of the economic use of the stock tuber.
2. The blocking of the sieve tubes in the mother tuber was found. By the blocking the current from the sprout to the mother tuber through the phloem and the material supply is entirely suppressed. Consequently the consideration on the suppression of the growth of the auxiliary buds by the influence of the suppressing substance which arise in the terminal sprout and transfer into the auxiliary buds is denied. The role of water current is emphasized.
3. When the nucleus in the parencymatous cells of the mother tuber of the scission degenerates, small calcium oxalate crystals appear on the outer surface of the nucleus. They increase in number and aggregate together, the crystals become larger. After the nucleus disappeared it is replaced by those crystals. These processes show us that the oxalic acid is one of the prominent derivatives of the degenerated nucleus. This can be said to the cytoplasm too. From such a degeneration process, a natural death, I have to consider that the life has two phases, the anabolism and the katabolism, and the latter is always compensated by the former when the living processes are going on normally, so that the natural death may be caused when the anabolic action is suppressed naturally, the plasm decomposes into very simple compounds, e.g. the oxalic acid.

View full abstract