Abstract
THE vegetable nature of the Diatomaceæ is now generally admitted, but if any further proof were needed we have it in marked results from the application of the spectroscope. Mr. H. L. Smith has been enabled to prove the absolute identity of chlorophyll, or the green endochrome of plants, with diatomin, or the olive yellow endochrome of the Diatomaceæ. The spectrum-microscope used was made by Browning, of London. Mr. Smith states that it is not at all difficult to obtain a characteristic spectrum from a living diatom, and to compare it directly with that of a desmid, or other plant. From about fifty comparisons of spectra, he concludes that the spectrum of chlorophyll is identical with that of diatomin. The spectrum in question is a characteristic one, and is figured below.
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Botany: Spectroscopic Examination of Diatoms. Nature 1, 115–116 (1869). https://doi.org/10.1038/001115b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001115b0