GERMINATION OF SEEDS: II. THE HYDRO- 

 LYSIS AND REGENERATION OF PROTEINS. 



THE chemical processes that obtain during germination 

 have been submitted to extensive examination ; this 

 application is certainly well deserved, for there is no 

 physiological study that is more likely to elucidate the 

 immensely complex changes that are inseparably connected 

 with phenomena of vegetable life. In the seed is a large 

 store of plastic material which is entirely consumed during 

 development of embryo into seedling, and seedling into 

 plant, so that exceptional facility is granted to all that 

 would ascertain, the manner in which the plant renders this 

 material available for the synthetic transformations to 

 which it is afterwards subjected, as well as the nature of 

 these changes themselves. Since there is no reason for 

 doubting, that the metabolism of germination is, in the main, 

 chemically similar to that metabolism which occurs in 

 mature plants throughout the whole vegetable kingdom, 

 it is almost unnecessary to indicate the superlative im- 

 portance that is attached to investigations bearing on this 

 question. If the present knowledge of this subject is still 

 deficient in many points, this is rather due to the very 

 considerable difficulties with which the question is beset, 

 than to poverty of research. That which is known of 

 these processes, is very largely due to the most excellent 

 work that has been produced by E. Schulze, and the school 

 of investigators that has emerged from his laboratory at 

 Zurich. 



Before the question of proteinic transformations is en- 

 tered upon, it is advisable to discuss the system of proteinic 

 nomenclature, that seems to be now prevalent in this 

 country. This is both deficient and redundant ; for, al- 

 though the term ''protein" is used to connote the whole 

 class of compounds more or less resembling the albumins, 

 it is commonly replaced by the word " proteid," which 

 serves also to designate the group of still more complex 



