746 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



free carbon dioxid. In support of this claim the results of experiments with the 

 different seeds in glucose and other media are cited. — p. fireman. 



Transformation of nitrogenous substances in the ripening of seeds of 

 leguminous plants, N. I. Vasilyev (Zhur. Opuiln. Agron. [Rubs. Jour. Expt. Landw."], 

 5 {1904), No. I, pp. 19-54). — By the investigations of Emmerling, Hornberger, and 

 Nyedokoochayev the fact was established that in immature seeds there are present 

 considerable quantities of nonproteid nitrogen and that the amount of this nitrogen 

 decreases as the seeds ripen, while the proteid nitrogen, on the contrary, corre- 

 spondingly increases. Moreover, Emmerling and Nyedokoochayev ascertained the 

 decrease, in the process of ripening, of the nitrogen of certain groups of nitrogenous 

 crystalline substances, such as the amido acids, asparagin, and the nitrogenous sub- 

 stances of a basic character. The author has made a study to determine which 

 nitrogenous substances are found in the unripe seeds, and the present article is a 

 contribution to the solution of this problem. 



In 1900 and 1901 experiments were made with the seeds of Lupinus angustifolius 

 and Robinia pseudacacia. From the unripe seeds of these plants were isolated various 

 amido acids, asparagin, and the hexose bases, histidin and arginin. In 1902 the 

 author made more detailed experiments with the seeds of Lupinus albus and L. 

 luteus, operating with considerably larger quantities. In the unripe seeds of these 

 plants the absence of tyrosin was demonstrated, as was also the case with the other 

 plants named. Phenylalanin was isolated and identified with certainty. This 

 amido acid appears to be accompanied by amidovaleric acid. The bases histidin and 

 arginin were separated in crystalline form. In the process of ripening, the accumu- 

 lation of proteid bodies takes place at the expense of amido acids, asparagin, and the 

 hexose bases. 



The author concludes that the process of ripening is essentially the inverse of 

 germination. While in the process of the germination of the seeds the stored-up 

 proteid substances are transformed into nitrogenous crystalline compounds, such as 

 amido acids, amids, and organic bases, which then appear in the germ, in the process 

 of ripening of seeds the crystalline nitrogenous compounds (amido acids, asparagin, 

 and the hexose bases) pass from the plant into the seeds, where they are converted 

 into stored-up proteid substances. It may perhaps be assumed that the transporta- 

 tion of the albumen produced in the leaves proceeds in the form of those crystalline 

 compounds which in the leguminous plants arrive first at the husks and then at the 

 seeds, where they are again transformed into albumen. — p. fireman. 



Study of the variation in seeds during ripening, G. Andre (Compt. Rend. 

 Acad. Set. [Paris], 138 (1904), Xos. .-/./, pp. 1510-1512; 26, pp. 11 12-11 U) .—For a 

 considerable time the author has been studying the changes which take place in the 

 seed of lupines, beans, and maize, from the time of their earliest formation until 

 after maturity. Among the changes he found a progressive transformation of solu- 

 ble carbohydrates into insoluble ones, a process which is the inverse of that taking 

 place during germination. The total amount of nitrogen in proportion to the dry 

 weight of the seed increases with the age of the seed, but the relative percentage 

 is greatest when the seeds are quite young, and also as they approach maturity. The 

 water content of the seeds and pods, or cob in the case of maize, was determined, 

 and its relative amount and fluctuation at different stages of growth are shown. 



In the second paper the author notes the changes which take place in the mineral 

 matter of the seeds in a similar way. Tables are given showing that the total ash 

 increases with the advance in maturity up to a certain point, after which there is a 

 steady diminution. This applies strictly in the case of the ash of the pods of 

 lupine and bean and also the ash of the lupine seed, but not for the beans, in which 

 the ash content continued to increase up to the last observation. With the maize 

 there was a progressive increase, but the cob was not fully mature at the last 

 observation. 



