342 BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.  [Srss. txxu. 
MEETING OF THE SOCIETY, 
May 14, 1908. 
J. RutHerrorp Hin, Esq., President, in the Chair. 
The following communications were read :— 
CASES OF ABNORMAL GERMINATION IN SEEDS OF PEGANUM 
HarMaLa. By J. W. Bews, M.A., B.Sc. (Plate XIV.) 
The seeds of Peganum Harmala contain a high percentage 
of two alkaloids, Harmine and Harmaline. 
While investigating the behaviour of these alkaloids 
during germination, I had occasion to germinate large 
nurabers of the seeds. They were germinated under some- 
what artificial conditions, being spread out on moist blotting- 
paper in a germinator which was kept at a temperature of 
about 30° C. 
The seeds of this plant are roughly tetragonal in shape. 
The seed coat consists of two layers of large cells, and it is 
in the inner layer of the seed coat that the alkaloids occur. 
There is a considerable amount of endosperm in the seed, 
and in the centre the embryo lies, the cotyledons also being 
of considerable size. An interesting fact concerning the 
embryo and endosperm ig the peculiar fluorescence shown, 
especially when the section is mounted in glycerine. 
Altogether several thousand seeds were germinated. In 
the majority of cases they germinated in a perfectly normal 
way, the radicle appearing first at the micropyle (fig. 1). 
In about 4 or 5 per cent. of the cases, however, the coty- 
ledons appeared first at the end opposite the micropyle, having 
burst their way through the seed coat, leaving the rest of 
the embryo inside the seed (fig. 2). In these cases the 
growing radicle must have been unable to force its way 
through the micropyle and the increasing pressure must 
have forced the cotyledons through at the other end. In one 
or two cases, however, it was noted that radicle and coty- 
