THE STRUCTURE OF THE SEED 27 



"Wulfryn process of seed electrification and a quotation from 

 that report may not be out of place here. I said : 



" During such time as the seed is in process of develop- 

 ment it is as dependent upon the mother tree or plant as 

 the unborn child is upon the maternal blood-stream, and 

 precaution is taken against premature germination by with- 

 holding from it a perfected electrical system ; so soon, 

 however, as it begins, so to speak, an independent existence 

 it — and I am including all seeds — becomes a species of 

 Ley den jar, in order to enable it to receive from the earth, 

 when in its proper environment, the continuous induced 

 electrical charge essential to germination. 



" This I sought to make clear at the recently held meeting 

 of the British Association. In its resting stage, that is to 

 say before it is sown, the seed consists of a dry outer mem- 

 brane — the seed coat — and a fibroid or lipoid layer between 

 it and the seed substance itself, which latter is enclosed in 

 another, and usually thinner, protective membrane. In 

 that condition it is electrically inert. Before growth can 

 commence the seed coat must be rendered conductive. 

 When that is done, by placing the seed in contact with the 

 soil, the seed coat becomes the outer layer of tinfoil, the inner 

 fibroid or lipoid lining, together with the inner membrane 

 the glass of the Ley den- jar, and the seed substance itself, 

 with its moist and generally acid content, the inner layer of 

 tinfoil. The electrostatic capacity of the seed is therefore 

 a matter of very great importance, and this is governed by 

 (1) the resistance of the seed coat, (2) the specific inductive 

 capacity of the fibroid or lipoid dielectric, and (3) the nature 

 and quantity of the liquid content of the seed substance. 



*' A marked difference exists in detail between, for instance, 

 wheat, oats, barley and rice, but it is mainly in the arrange- 

 ment of the starch grains. In principle all seeds are the 

 same, and in them all the embryo radicle, plumule and 

 cotyledons must, if one seed is to be as good as another, 

 be equally developed. 



*' This, obviously, cannot be the case. Some seeds are 

 blown down by the wind, others are affected by predatory 

 insects or by disease, while others again are immature when 



