ON THE TERMINATION OE SEEDS. 133 



and I believe with Sinapis nigra. Of the genus Godetia, Mr. 

 Berkeley found one species was killed by, and another survived, a 

 month's immersion : but a far more curious case is presented by 

 the varieties of the cabbage ; for I found that good seed of the 

 " Mammoth white broccoli " germinated after 11 days' immersion, 

 but was killed by 22 days ; seed of the " early cauliflower " sur- 

 vived 22 days, but was killed by 36 days; " CattelFs cabbage" 

 germinated excellently after 36 days, but was killed by 50 days ; 

 and lastly, fresh seed of the wild cabbage from Tenby germinated 

 excellently after 50 days, very well after 110 days, and two seeds 

 out of some hundreds germinated after 133 days' immersion. 



Of the 87 kinds of seeds tried, 23 or more than one quarter did 

 not endure 28 days' immersion : capsicum has endured the trial 

 best, for 30 out of 56 seeds germinated well after 137 days' im- 

 mersion : of celery seed after the same period of 137 days, only 

 6 out of several hundreds germinated. The worst germinators 

 have been dwarf kidney beans and Hibiscus mcmihot, both killed 

 by 11 days' immersion; common peas were killed by 14 days' ; 

 Tussilago farfara germinated under water after 9 days, but the 

 young plants kept alive for some time : the next worse germina- 

 tors have been Phlox Drumniondii, Trifoliz&m incarnatum, Linum 

 usitatissimwm, and Sinapis nigra, very few of which survived 

 15 days' immersion. 



From such scanty materials it is, perhaps, rash to draw any 

 sort of deduction in regard to the power of resistance to salt 

 water in the different divisions of the vegetable kingdom ; but a 

 few remarks may be permitted. Three out of the 17 Endogens 

 and 20 out of the 70 Exogens were killed by a month or 28 days' 

 immersion : this fact, together with the marked power of endurance 

 in the Atriplex, Beta, Spinacea, and JRheum, lowly organized 

 exogens, accords with, and is perhaps connected with, the fact, in- 

 sisted on so much by M. A. DeCandolle, of the wider range of the 

 Endogens and of the lowly organized Exogens, than of the higher 

 Exogens*. The four Solanacece and two TJmbellifercd endured the 

 salt water very well, and each included the longest survivor of all 

 the species tried. Ten Composites were tried, and only one was 

 killed by a month's immersion, that is excepting the Tussilago 

 which germinated under water. Eight Cruciferce were tried, and 

 all withstood the influence well, excepting Sinapis nigra, which 



* Grodron in his " Morula Juvenalis," p. 16, states that the seeds of some 

 plants, as of Atriplex and certain Grraminece, germinate perfectly in salt-marshes, 

 where they have been immersed during all the winter under salt water. 



