Dec. 13, 1915 Translocation of Constituents of Seeds and Tubers 453 



As the growth of the seedlings proceeded, the cotyledons began to 

 shrink and finally turned brown. The root development in all cases 

 was good, nearly filling the test tubes, and each seedling developed two 

 perfect leaves. The seedlings were allowed to grow until they began to 

 etiolate and wilt, this period being reached in from 17 to 22 days. The 

 plants thus grown were very uniform in size and development, the aver- 

 age height being 6% inches. During their development care was taken 

 that they should not touch each other. As fast as they matured, they 

 were removed from the test tubes and the cotton carefully removed 

 from the stem and roots. The plants were then divided into roots (8),* 

 lower stems (5) which averaged 4X inches in height, exhausted cotyledons 

 (7), upper stems (6) which averaged 2 inches, and the leaves (4). The 

 liquid remaining in the test tubes was evaporated to dryness and added 

 to the washings (11). 



Six hundred and nine selected beans labeled "B" received the same 

 treatment as those labeled "A," except they were allowed to live only 

 until the radicle had appeared and the integument had softened. The 

 integument (2) and the cotyledons (3) were carefully air-dried, as were 

 the above-mentioned plants. The drainage and washings (i) from these 

 beans were carefully evaporated to dryness. These several parts of the 

 beans were analyzed to check the analyses of the seedlings, the results of 

 which are given in Table I. 



In analyzing the separate portipns of the air-dried material which had 

 been carefully ashed at a dull-red heat, three portions of 0.2000 gm. 

 each were carefully weighed out. In one portion phosphorus and silica 

 were determined, while in another portion the determination of potassium 

 was made. The methods used were essentially the olBcial methods of 

 the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists.^ In a third portion 

 of the ash, calcium and magnesium were determined according to the 

 method of McCrudden.^ 



In Table I are to be found the results of the analyses of the separate 

 portions of 609 seedlings and the separate parts of 609 beans. 



It is evident from the results given in Table I that the weight of the 

 total ash of the seedlings agrees fairly well with the total weight of the 

 ash of the bean control, the difference being due in all probability to 

 unavoidable outside contamination during the period of growth. The 

 comparative analyses of the inorganic constituents fall well within the 

 limit of experimental error. The greatest difference is observed in the 

 case of silica, the seedlings containing nearly twice as much as the beans. 



1 The numbers in parentheses refer to the nixmber of part in the tables. 



2 Wiley, H. W., et al. Official and provisional methods of analysis. Association of Official Agricultural 

 Chemists. As compiled by the committee on revision of methods. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Chem. Bui. 107 

 (rev.). 272 p., 13 fig. 1908. 



3 JlcCrudden, F. H. The quantitative separation of calcium and magnesium in the presence of phos- 

 phates and small amounts of iron devised especially for the analysis of foods, urine, and feces. In Jour. 

 Biol. Chem., v. 7, no. 2, p. 83-100. 1910. 



The determination of calcium in the presence of magnesium and phosphates: the determination of 



caldtmi in luine. /n Jour. Biol. Chem., v. 10, no. 3, p. 187-199. 191 1. 



