183 
who found it “ growing on stems and branches of Yellowwood trees, 
always in tufts of moss, which its roots penetrate, but do not, I 
think, even touch the bark of the tree. The only plants on the 
ground were a few, not many, that had been dislodged from the 
e or 
Sycamore on a very reduced scale, and are admirably adapted for 
dispersal by wind. 
XXIX.—THE STERILISATION OF SEED. 
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proved unsatisfactory for the following reasons: the spores of 
certain bacteria are resistant to such treatment; the presence of 
Formaldehyde has also been used, but in some cases, as shown 
by Kehler,* the seeds treated proved more susceptible to injury 
than the spores of the fungi or bacteria it was sought to destroy. 
Owing to the unsatisfactory results of the methods of sterilisation 
usually employed, de Zeeuwt experimented with various other 
substances and decided in favour of hydrogen peroxide (H,O,). 
Pinoy and Magrout have also experimented with hydrogen peroxide 
and give a favourable report of the results. 
According to the last-named authors, it was found that after the 
seed n immersed in hydrogen peroxide for 5 hours, all 
spores were killed, yet the germination of the seed was not much 
retarded, and in certain instances it was even hastened. Treated 
seeds of Orobus tuberosus germinated in eight days, whereas 
untreated seeds of the same plant required a month to germinate. 
