146 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [FEBRUARY 
PRESERVATION OF SEEDS BURIED IN THE SOIL. 
Durine the latter part of the winter of 1901-2, while the new med- 
ical building was being erected on the campus at the University of 
of Michigan, an excavation was made adjacent for the purpose of 
securing gravel and sand to be used in the masonry work. At this 
particular time I happened to be reviewing the literature pertaining to 
the vitality of buried seeds, and was thus prompted to see what this pit 
would yield. An investigation revealed a layer of black soil, approx- 
imately one inch in thickness, at a depth varying from fourteen to 
sixteen inches below the surface. 
On March 7, 1902, while the ground was frozen very hard, samples 
of this black soil were taken from three different places, representing 
in all approximately two square feet of surface. This soil was then 
distributed in four eight-inch clay pans, which were placed in the 
greenhouse under favorable conditions for the germination of any seeds 
that were lying dormant in the soil. ‘The pans were covered with 
glass plates so that no foreign seed could enter during the course of 
the experiment. 4 
On March 14 pan no. 1 showed four clovers; pan no. 2 six clovers 
and four plantains; pan no. 3 twelve clovers and two plantains, and 
pan no. 4 thirteen clovers and two plantains; a total of thirty-five 
clovers and eight plantains in seven days. New seedlings continued 
to appear from day to day. The experiment was terminated on May 
6, after a period of sixty days, when the entire number of seedlings 
had reached 128, representing seven genera and nine species, as fol- 
lows: Trifolium pratense L., 70; Polygonum aviculare L., 19; Plan- 
tago Rugelti Dec., 10; Euphorbia maculata L., 8; Panicum pubescens 
Lam., 6; Plantago major L.., 5; Bursa bursa-pastoris (L.) Britton, 5; 
Trifolium repens L., 3; Anthemis Cotula L., 2. - 
On inquiry it was found that the grading in that part of the campus 
was done in the autumn of 1898, consequently the seeds giving rise to 
these plants must have been lying dormant in the soil at least three 
and a half years. 
In addition to the species named above, an examination of the soil 
showed the presence of many old fruits of Amérosta artemisiacfolia L-s 
but the vitality of these had been destroyed. 
The conditions in this particular place were very favorable for the 
preservation of vitality of buried seeds. The first six or seven inches 
below the new surface consisted of a firm clay, below which was 4 mix- 
