904 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD 



water: Morphin, nicotin, cocain hydroclilorate, strychnin, atropin sul- 

 phate, and caffein salicylate. The experiment was conducted for 18 

 days, and comparisons were made with equal lots of seed soaked with 

 water. It was found that cocain and atropin 0.01 per cent, strychnin 

 0.05 per cent, morphin 0.001, and atropin 0.0005 hastened germination, 

 while the more concentrated strengths delayed it. For the caffein no 

 accelerated results were secured, due, in the author's opinion, to the 

 action of the salicylic acid. The author believes that alkaloids will 

 have a narcotic or stimulating effect on plants as well as on animals 

 according to the dose. 



The influence of certain salts on germination, A. Bruttini {8taz. 

 Sper. Agr. Ital, 27 (1894), p. 30; abs. in Chem. Ztg., 18 {1894), No. 103, 

 Bepert, p. 328). — The author conducted experiments on wheat with 1 

 and 2 per cent solutions of the substances mentioned below, the seed 

 being soaked for 24 hours prior to planting. Each lot contained 15 

 seeds, and at the end of 4 days the following germinations were shown: 



Germination of wheat treated tvith various salts. 



Kind of salt. 



Mercuric clilorid 



Ferric chloric! 



Platinum chlorid 



Potassium cyanid 



Copper nitrate 



Manganese phosphate 



Barium permanganate 



Nickel chlorid 



Ammonium chlorid 



Ammonium sulphocyanid 



Copi)6r sulphate 



Potassium ferrlcyanid 



Kind of salt. 



Potassium sulphocyanid 



Uranium nitrate 



Cobalt chlorid 



Potassium phosphate 



Potassium ferrocyanid . . 



Sodium chlorid 



Calcium chlorid 



Potassium permanganate 



Barium chlorid 



Potassium nitrate 



Distilled water 



Number of 



seed 

 germinated. 



2 per 1 per 

 cent. cent. 



The germination of seed, Wernicke {Ztschr. landw. Ver. Hessen, 

 1895, No. 8, pp. 57, 58). — The author experimented with various seeds 

 which, owing to their thick or nearly impervious seed coats, are usually 

 very slow in germinating. The ones experimented upon were Acacia 

 molissima and Lathyrus spp. particularly L. sylvestris wagneri. He sub- 

 jected them to hot water for various times, after which the seeds were 

 planted in sand in flower pots. Seeds without any treatment gave 50 per 

 centgermination, those soaked for 6 hours in water at 122° F. gave 60 per 

 cent, those soaked for 3 hours at 167° F. gave 72 per cent, and those 

 treated for an hour with water heated from 204 to 212° F. gave 92 per 

 cent germination. 



Squirrel-tail grass, A. Nelson ( Wyoming Sta. Bpt. 1894, pp. 73-79, pis. 4, fig, 1)^— 

 A repriat of Bulletin 19 of the station (E. S. K., 6, p. 640). 



