The reversible photobleaching of chlorophyll was discovered by Forre t and Rabinowitch in 1937 (7). Its existence was confirmed and it was further studied by Livingston in 1941 (4). Since the experiments, both photometric and chemical, are difficult, both the earlier and the present researches are more or less exploratory in character. The present results, while confirming some of the earlier findings, necessitate some modification of the mechanism suggested previously (1,4).
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS AND MATERIALThe photometer 1 This work was made possible by the support of the Office of Naval Research (Contract N6ori-212, Task Order 1). It was also supported in part by a grant-in-aid from the Grad-