94 MB. SOLLY ON THE 



a ring of tin-plate three lines in depth ; the additional space in 

 each was then filled up with the same sifted earth, and the whole 

 very gradually and carefully moistened with an equal quantity of 

 Avater : they were then all three placed on insulated stands, in 

 exactly the same relation to light, and one being electrified posi- 

 tively, and the other negatively, the third was left untouched. 

 After twenty-three days the young plants were measured, when 

 it was found that the unelectrified had grown 1 1 inches 10 lines, 

 the positive 18 inches 5 lines, and the negative 19 inches 9 lines. 

 A number of other experiments of the same kind are also given, 

 the general result of which is that electricity appears to acce- 

 lerate germination, negative electricity being more powerful than 

 positive. 



Similar experiments also are described by M. Rouland,* but 

 the results which he obtained are opposed to those of Carmoy. 

 He electrified porcelain dishes of water, in which corks floated, 

 supporting common cress- seed ; these were electrified both posi- 

 tively and negatively by contact with the conductors of the ma- 

 chine, or charged Leyden jars, yet in no case could he observe 

 any effect produced by the electricity. A few months later M. 

 I'Abbe d'Ormoyt published the results of a very extensive and 

 laborious set of experiments, undertaken with a view of ascer- 

 taining whether the objections of Ingenhousz were sound or not, 

 and the results of his experiments appear to have corroborated 

 those of Nollet and of Bertholon. He electrified mustard and let- 

 tuce seed for several days in moist earth, and found their germina- 

 tion always accelerated. Besides these he made other experiments 

 in which seeds were electrified for some hours, and then sown 

 and compared with other seeds which had not been electrified ; 

 in these cases also the electrified seeds had always the start of the 

 others, and so beneficial did he find it to germination that he 

 says even old and dry seeds which appeared spoiled, and would 

 not germinate, did so readily when previously electrified for 

 some hours. Almost the same results were published by Ber- 

 tholon at nearly the same time. J He enclosed parcels of seeds 

 in tin-foil and kept them constantly electrified for some days 

 before sowing, when he found that seeds so prepared germinated 

 remarkably soon ; these experiments were made with seeds of 

 spinach, endive, turnip, &c. He likewise describes a number 

 of experiments in which he found seeds to germinate sooner when 

 placed on the plate of a charged electrophorus. 



Professor Vassalli, of Turin, in a Dissertation published 1788, 



Rozier, 1789, i. p. 3. t Ibid., 1789, ii. p. Ifi9. 



J Ibid., 1789, ii.p. 401. 



