412 Bertha Rees : 



brown showed the purplish colour of hemicellulose (PL 81 f, g). 



Oanna indica served to contirm the above results. After 9 

 weeks in chloroform one out of ten swelled, and the seed coat 

 gave the cellulose reaction, and a section of such a coat stained 

 with chlor-zinc-iodine is figured in PL 81 h. 



Swelling was also produced by the action of caustic potash, but 

 seeds required long maceration in this substance to produce 

 satisfactory results — 1 hour in test tube on boiling water bath, 

 and over 3 months at 30 deif. C. 



Summary. 



1. The general result of the series of germination tests in 

 the first jjart of this paper confi.rnis Prof. Ewart's statement 

 that the macrobiotic seeds belong for the most part to the 

 order Leguminosae, that the highest percentage of germination 

 occurs among cuticularised seeds, and that the more imper- 

 meable the cuticle the higher is the percentage of germination. 

 This fact is demonstrated by the results obtained with Acacia 

 aciuacea, A. decurrois and A. jii/cnaiif/ia, from these samples 

 those seeds which swelled in water showed a feeble power of 

 germination, while hard seeds from the same sample, which 

 required prolonged treatment with sulphuric acid to uuike 

 them swell, showed a percentage of germination from fifty to 

 one hundred. There were a few exceptions to the above, which 

 are worthy of note. Eucah/ptus caloplij/lJa and E. diversicnlnr 

 both possess macrobiotic seeds although unprovided with any 

 specially impermeable coverings ; they are further remarkable, 

 as longevity is not as a rule a characteristic of large .seeds contain- 

 ing oil. Another interesting result was obtained in the case of 

 Sorgh-nm, in which one sample .sixteen years old showed fifteen 

 per cent, of germination. This places Sorghum above Trlf'unim, 

 ■which is one of the longest lived of the cereals. 



2. The impermeability of hard seeds in all those examined 

 is due to the presence of cutin, which may — (a) form a mem- 

 brane on the outside of the seed as in Cyticus alhus, Iiuligo- 

 fera arrecta, and Acacia melanoxylon, (b) be laid down in the 

 cell walls of the palisade cells as in Melilotus alba and ('(imia 

 indica, or (c) be found both as an outer membrane and in the walls 



