5S8 SCIEXCE PROGRESS. 



twenty seedlings, the seeds of which had been in the earth 

 unknown to the collector. These are the facts which he 

 thinks sufficient to establish ' lonoevitv ' of the seed: but 

 they prove little, if anythino-. No details as to precautions 

 taken against subsequent intnxiuction ot seeds are given ; 

 even if the seeds were in the original earth, there is nothincr 

 to show how long they had been there. 



Arthur ^ states that seeds o\' Pyn/s corotiaria can 

 germinate after dormancy of twenty-three years. The evi- 

 dence for this is as follows: A barn was built in 1859, the 

 foundation of which was limestone laid on soil. In 1882 

 the barn was remo\ed, and after twenty days the founda- 

 tion also. When the bottom stone was raised, two small 

 plants were found near the centre of the stone. He says 

 that there seems no doubt that the seeds had been protected 

 bv the building for the twentv-three years, germination 

 having been stimulated after removal of the barn by penetra- 

 tion of warmth and moisture beneath the foundation. No 

 evidence is adduced that the seeds were not introduced by 

 animals or otherwise, for which reason the statement is 

 practically valueless. 



Jodin (5) succeeded in germinating peas [Pisii??! safi- 

 zniu?) after dormancy of ten years. Ten were tested ; two 

 germinated normally, two abnormally. 



Instances of 'lonoevitv' are also o-iven bv Meehan.- 

 In 1886 he had a few plants of Lysi??iac/iia atropiirpurea in 

 his garden. Next winter this spot was covered to a depth 

 of several feet with earth, and evergreens were planted on 

 it. In 1896 one evergreen was removed and shortly after 

 a plant of Lysiniachia sprang up at the bottom of the hole 

 thus made. Since none had grown in the oarcien since 1886, 

 he concluded that the seed haci remained dormant ten years. 

 In 1884 plants oi AiitirrhDuini glandnlosuni were raised by 

 him ; next year the plot where they had been was covered 

 with earth to a depth of several feet. On turning up the 

 earth in 1894 '^o a depth of a few feet, one plant came up 

 and tlowered. It is very likely that these seeds had re- 



^ Bot. Gaz. 7, 1SS2, SS. 



' Froi. Acad. Xat. Sci. Philadelphia^ 1892, 374: 1S94, 58. 



