132 DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 



In another instance, nine solutions were prepared in similar vessels, as 

 follows : 



6. Citric acid, five grs. 



7. Sulphite of soda, twenty grs. 



8. Permanganate of potash, two grs, 



9. Nitrate of ammonia, twenty grs. 



1. Plain water. 



2. Cane sugar, thirty grs. 



3. Gum, thirty grs. 



4. Glycerine, one fl, drachm, 



5. Sulphuric acid, one-fourth drop. 



At the end of thirteen days, during which the weather was very cold (Dec. ■ 

 10 to 23), the following was the condition of affairs: 



'^Nos. 2 and 4 were as far advanced as the plain water (No. 1), but no 

 further. These substances therefore had not stimulated either germination 

 or early vegetation in the wheat seeds. 



" In No. 3 fewer seeds germinated than in either of the foregoing, but the 

 most advanced plants were fully one-half higher than any in Nos. 1, 2 or 4. 



" Nos. 7 and 9 were somewhat in advance of those in plain water, but not 

 very much. 



"In No. 6 a large number germinated and appeared healthy, but they did 

 not obtain one-fourth the height of those in No. 1, and, what was very 

 remarkable, they formed no roots at all. 



"In No. 5 the plants were more advanced than in the citric acid (No. 6), 

 and had healthy roots extending down into the liquid. 



" In No. 8 the condition of affairs most resembled that in the citric acid. 

 In both the seeds had germinated and produced healthy looking plants an 

 inch in height, but no roots whatever had been formed in either case. 



"Those plants which grew in the vessels containing solutions of cane 

 sugar, gum, and glycerine, respectively, grew as fast and flourished as well 

 as those in plain water, but it could scarcely be said that at the end of the 

 month they presented any superiority." 



M. Albert Larbaletrier* has recently experimented upon seven agents in the 

 germination of wheat: quicklime, sulphate of soda, permanganate of potash, 

 sulphate of copper, sulphate of ammonia, sulphuric acid, and salt of lead 

 [acetate of lead?]. The salt of lead produced the first germinations, thir- 

 teen out of a hundred grains sprouting in three days. Permanganate of 

 potash was second in influence. In the final results, with percentages of 

 germinations, the salt of lead was most beneficial. The following are the 

 best percentages of germination in eleven davs after sowing: 

 Salt of lead, 99. 

 Sulphuric acid, 80. 

 Permanganate of potash, 75. 

 Sulphate of copper, 74. 



In conclusion it may be said that in a practical way the results of all 

 experiments here detailed concerning the hastening of germination by chem- 

 ical means are unsatisfactory except in the instance of lime-water, bromine- 

 water and chlorine-water. 



But however uncertain our knowledge of the agency of chemicals in 

 hastening germination, we have many definite facts concerning the retarding 

 or prevention of germination by many alkaline, saline and acid substances. 

 " Nessler found, for example, that most saline solutions that are stronger 

 than 0.5% are hurtful, both for seeds and for young plants that have just 

 sprouted. Thus, a 0.5% solution of common salt prevented the germina- 



♦ Le Cocq de Lautreppe in Country Gentleman, Nov. 10, 188", 852. 



