Adsorption and narcosis

Summary The adsorption of homologic alcohols by the sap ofCaulerpa prolifera was studied.It was found that the alcohols are adsorbed in an indirect relation to their respective capillary activities against air.Traube's rule is therefore not valid for this adsorption.It is supposed that the unadsorbed remainder is the cause of the narcotic effect and that the adsorption is a regulating device to remove the narcotizing substance from the more liquid phase of the cell interior.The validity ofTraube's rule for narcosis as a biological phenomenon can be understood on the basis of the fact, that the strongly capillary active substances are adsorbed at least and the little capillary active substances at most. Thus their narcotizing effect is indirectly proportional to their respective adsorbility.