SEEDED FRUITS IN THE PERSIMMON 109 



This discrepancy in the rate of ripening may be much more 

 pronounced as between particular cells. For some reason not 

 understood, but obviously connected with the early death of 

 the cells involved, the change of the A' -cellulose from the uncoag- 

 ulated to the coagulated condition is compassed in a greater or 

 smaller number of tannin cells early in the development of the 

 fruit. These cells then die, and the adsorbed tannin becomes 

 oxidized. Such cells may be recognized by the form and colour 

 of their tannin masses, which are red and show marked syneresis. 



The occurrence of considerable numbers of such red tannin 

 masses within a restricted volume of tissue gives it the red ap- 

 pearance identical with that noted in seeded fruits, and at the 

 same time a ''gritty consistency,"^ for the individual tannin 

 masses are rather hard and quite insoluble in water. 



This then is the normal course of that change among the several 

 constituting ripening which produces a non-astringent from an 

 astringent seedless fruit. It is identical with the corresponding 

 change in the date, banana, sapodilla, etc. 



The purpose of this paper is to show that the changes in seeded 

 fruits are to be regarded as identical. The examples of Zengi 

 fruits supplied by Mr. Hume were peculiarly suited to decide the 

 question, as only the region of the pericarp adjacent to a seed 

 was non-astringent, the bulk of the remainder being normally 

 and extremely astringent. The accompanying diagram (fig. 1) 

 enables us to define particular areas in a transverse section of a 

 fruit in which there was only one seed. Surrounding the seeded 

 locule and embracing also the two adjacent ones was a mass of 

 red tissue. At the time of first examination the flesh was firm 

 throughout the fruit, light yellow in colour, and opaque, the 

 opacity being due to the air in the intercellular spaces. At one 

 place there was a bruise. 



The red coloured region (fig. 1, a) was entirely non-astringent, 

 but had in every respect a normal structure, save that a consid- 

 erable number of the tannin-masses were shrunken and red. 

 The remainder, however, were colourless, in an early condition 



* Hume, H. H. Effect of pollination on the fruit of Diospyros Kaki. Proc. 

 See. Hort. Sci., Florida, 1913. 88-93, March, 1914. 



