SEEDS KILLED BY BOILING WATER. 11 
without inconvenience, the tender seeds of 
barley, kidney-beans, and flax, were killed. At 
twenty degrees more heat the seeds of wheat 
were killed, and in still hotter water the death 
took place almost immediately. Extreme cold is 
equally destructive to seeds of many kinds, though 
less so to those just named. From this cause 
many a florist in England has experienced deep 
disappointment, in receiving valuable packages 
of seeds from India, which have travelled by the 
sea-route. The tender seeds of that burning 
climate die in consequence of their exposure to 
great extremes of heat and cold before they can 
arrive in England. Thus, while we may justly 
say that the seed slumbers so long as it is in 
that condition under ordinary circumstances, the 
sleep is not death, and the beautifully organised 
mass is only waiting for the voice of Spring, 
and the scent of water, to put forth its leaves and 
awake to vigorous existence. 
The question, How long may a seed remain in 
this state of sleep without passing into that of 
complete death? is one which must receive very 
variable answers. Certainly the time is limited, 
but the limits differ in different plants: in 
