14 PJijinlological Pre-detennmation 



large number of trials, employed the method of soaking the seeds /or a 

 short time in the acid solutions and then sowing them in garden soil. 



Seeds of a variety of Cucurhita Pepo were soaked for 48 hours in the 

 following solutions, viz. : 



0-5 % Tartaric acid (T) 

 0-5 % Acetic acid (A) 

 0-5 % Oxalic acid (0) 

 Pure water ( W) 



After this preliminary soaking treatment the seeds were washed in 

 water and were then sown in sand in perforated dishes. A came up first, 

 T next, followed by Q, and several days later by W. Measurements taken 

 sometime later {i.e. when the seedlings bore from 2-6 leaves) showed 

 that the A plants had the largest number of leaves and also the greatest 

 dry-weight, whereas the W plants had the smallest number of leaves 

 and the smallest dry-weight. Forty days after sowing the perforated 

 dishes were half buried in garden soil, but a single plant from each lot 

 was transplanted. The final results in the case of those not transplanted 

 were as follows. All the W plants died ; of the others, flowers appeared 

 first upon the A plants, and these plants also bore the largest and most 

 numerous fruits. All the plants from the acid-treated seeds maintained 

 their vigour throughout the experiment. 



Of the transplanted plants, A produced three very large fruits, 

 produced two, T produced one, whilst W flowered, but did not fruit. 

 Results of a similar nature were obtained by this author with Pepper 

 seeds. 



The main interest of these results lies in the fact that a brief treatment 

 during the critical stage of germination was found to produce a bene- 

 ficial effect on the whole course of subsequent development of the plants 

 and also upon their final yields. 



We may recall here the incidental observations of three other workers, 

 namely, Goodspeed, Townsend, and Plate. Ooodspeed(i2), when testing 

 the eft'ect of 80 per cent. H2SO4 upon the germination of tobacco seeds, 

 found that treatment with this acid for a period not exceeding 10 to 12 

 minutes markedly increased the percentage of germination, and in some 

 cases the rapidity of germination also. This result is in harmony with 

 the results of many other investigators on the eftect of strong acids upon 

 the germination of hard-coated seeds. From our point of view, however, 

 (Joodspeed's most interesting contribution lies in a sentence hidden in 

 the body of his paper — "Results at present at hand seem to leave no 



