78 REPORT— 1842. 



The first appearance of germination took place with the tulips under the 

 orange glass (!3), which was followed in three days by those under the red 

 glass (2), then by those under the ruby glass (1), and next by those under 

 the influence of the yellow (4), blue (5), and green glasses (6). The roots 

 under the orange glass developed the cotyledons a week earlier than those 

 under the yellow, blue, and green glasses. But that the ranunculuses ob- 

 served the same relative order in germinating, I should have suspected that 

 some peculiarity in the bulbs had influenced the result, although these had 

 been selected with the most scrupulous care, At first the greatest pro- 

 gress was made by the tulips under the yellow (4) and orange glasses (3) ; 

 but the leaves under eacli of these were by no means healthy, particularly 

 under the yellow glass (4), which had a singularly delicate appearance, being 

 of a very light green, and covered with a most delicate white bloom. 



The leaf-stalks of the tulips shot up remarkably long, and were in both 

 cases white ; at length an exceedingly small flower-bud appeared on the 

 plant under the orange glass (3), which perished almost as soon as it ap- 

 peared, and the death of the plant immediately followed. The tulips under 

 the yellow glass (4) never showed any buds, and their vitality soon failed 

 them. The condition of the ranunculuses was in most respects similar to 

 that of the tulips ; they exhibited the same exuberant length of stalk 

 but the leaves were of a more healthful appearance. These plants, however, 

 never showed any flower-buds, and they died nearly about the same time 

 with the tulips. 



It may be proper to mention that the garden-pots in which these roots 

 were planted, were filled with a mixture of fine earth, sand, and well-rotted 

 manure from a hot-bed. A few days after their exposure, those under the 

 orange and yellow glasses threw up several fungi, and continued for some 

 days to do so, which was not the case with any of the others. 



Under the ruby (1 ) and red glasses (2), the tulips shot up a single lobe, 

 which maintained a little life for three or four weeks, but never rose more 

 than two inches above the soil. There was a marked redness upon this 

 stunted formation, which I often fancied was in some respects characteristic 

 of the kind of medium under which they were placed. The tuberous roots 

 perished in the soil ; sufficient moisture and warmth had called into action 

 the latent principle of germination, but being unable to maintain it against 

 the destructive influence of the light, they rotted. 



Beneath the green glass (6) the plants grew all of them, slowly but tole- 

 rably strong. They were, however, marked by a more extraordinary length 

 of stem than those before mentioned ; some of the stems of the ranunculuses 

 being above ten inches in length, having a small leaf at the end not more 

 than two-thirds of an inch in diameter. These plants all show flower-buds, but 

 none of them could be made to flower, notwithstanding the greatest care 

 and attention was bestowed upon them ; the effort of throwing up the buds 

 appeared to exhaust their powers, and the whole of these plants soon died. 



The results under the blue glass (5) were very different ; the roots germi- 

 nated, I think, a little less quickly than they did in the open ground, forming 

 compact and healthy plants, developing their flower-buds strongly. Most un- 

 fortunately the wind on a tempestuous night overturned this box and scat- 

 tered its contents, preventing of course the formation of the perfect flowers, 

 which but for this accident there can be no doubt would have ensued. 



Numerous experiments have been tried with the seeds of mignonette, 

 many varieties of the flowering pea, the common parsley, and cresses ; with 

 all of them the results have been similar to those already described. The 

 seeds have germinated, in general, the most rapidly under the red glass (2), 



