562 Longevity of Seeds. [December, 



LONGEVITY OF SEEDS. 



Long since, the British Association appointed an important com- 

 mittee on this subject. Dr. Daubeny read their report at the last 

 meeting held in Dublin, in September. They state that after 

 planting year after year all the seeds they were able to collect, they 

 had now left but four species of plants whose seeds continued to 

 grow. These were seeds belonging to the species Ulex, Delichos, 

 Malva, and Ipomea. The results are curious and interesting, and 

 valuable for reference. The register of every experiment was 

 exhibited with the details kept by Mr. Baxter of the Bctanic Garden. 

 From this register it was seen that the shortest period for which any 

 of the seeds had retained their vitality was eight years, and the 

 longest forty-three years. Grouping the plants according to their 

 natural orders, the following selected, will give some idea of the 

 plants whose seeds retain their vitality longest; Gramineje, 8 years: 

 Liliacea3, 10 years; Conifera3, 12 years; Tilliaceaa, 27 years; Malva- 

 ceae, 27 years; Leguminosse, 43 years; Rhamnaceaj, 21 years; 

 Boragniaceae, 8 years; Convolvulaccte, 14 years; Compositse, 8 

 years; Myrtaceas, 18 years; UmbelliferEe, 8 years; Cruciferee, 8 

 years. It would appear that the seeds which retained their vitality 

 longest were those which had least albumen surrounding their em- 

 bryos, as the Leguminosae; whilst those which had large quantities 

 of albumen, as the Graminaccse, lost their vitality soonest. Dr. 

 Steele stated that he had planted many seods obtained from Egyptian 

 mummies, but always failed to obtain any indications of their vitali- 

 ty. Mr. Moore, of the Dublin Botanic Garden, related an instance 

 in which he had succeeded in producing a new species of leguminous 

 plant from seeds obtained by Mr. John Ball, from a vase discovered 

 in an Egyptian tomb. He also stated that he had picked from out 

 of a decayed elm, at least fifty years old, seeds of laburnum, many 

 of which had germinated when planted, and produced young trees. 

 He had once grown a crop of young barberry trees by planting a 

 quantity of barberry jam, which proved that the process of prepar- 

 ing the jam did not injure the seed. Many seeds grew the better 

 for being placed in boiling water before they were set. Dr. Daubeny 

 Stated that seeds did not retain their vitality whilst entirely excluded 



