ON CURVES OF GROWTH, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO TEMPERATURE

Abstract

The velocity of growth, taken as the reciprocal of the time required to attain a given size or stage of development, obeys with some exactness the Arrhenius equation for relation to temperature. The values of µ, and the type of "breaks" found in the curves connecting velocity and temperature, are similar to those found in the case of various other vital activities. More precise data, particularly from experiments in which parts of the given developmental stadium are passed at different temperatures, may strengthen present indications that this relationship is not absolute. It is pointed out that the equation for an autocatalytic process, taken as descriptive for growth, predicts particular sorts of deviation under these conditions, which have in one instance been obtained experimentally; and may at the same time nevertheless permit the apparent temperature characteristic for (average) growth velocity to agree rather closely with that for one of the two velocity constants present in the correct autocatalytic equation.