OF THE COCOANUT DURING GERMINATION 357 
drawn from the residual endosperm, this absorption being greatest 
at the proximal end of the nut, where absorption was begun in the 
first place, and least at the distal end, where it had hardly com- 
menced, The roots also are seen to have absorbed considerable 
moisture. . 
The lowest part of the stem contains almost as little solid 
matter and is nearly as watery as the cotyledon. The percentage 
of water in the stem diminishes as the distance away from the “root 
crown’’ increases. The watery condition of the lower part of the 
stem is increased, doubtless, by the fact that the surrounding husk 
is impregnated with water, thus favoring direct absorption by 
osmosis and at the same time preventing evaporation from the sur- 
face of the growing tissue. 
The amount of solid matter in the petioles is also compara- 
tively slight, little more than in the lower part of the stem. In 
the leaves the water is greatest in the youngest, as would be ex- 
pected ; least in the oldest ——those most exposed to the air. 
The roots at the tips are soft and watery, but the older they 
become the more solid matter they develop and the more woody 
material they accumulate. 
In the distribution of the inorganic matter in the fresh parts it is 
noticeable that the proportion of saline substance increases with a 
decrease of water and vice versa, as in the cotyledon, in the residual 
endosperm and throughout the plumule. This condition is such as 
might be expected. The relation of the inorganic to the organic 
Matter in each part, however, is variable. The substance of the 
cotyledon and the stem contains a greater proportion of salts than 
that of the endosperm and the leaves, the roots likewise holding 
a fairly large amount of saline matter. The substance of the endo- 
Sperm contains least of all, from which fact it is quite clear that 
the inorganic matter of the plumule has been absorbed, not only 
by the cotyledon from the milk, but also by the roots from the 
fluid in the husk and the surrounding earth. 
At the beginning of germination the inorganic matter and 
Water of the milk are doubtless sufficient for the changes that 
©ccur, the organic matter coming chiefly from the endosperm. 
Some time before the cotyledon fills the milk cavity and completely 
_ absorbs the milk, the roots have begun to take water and inorganic 
