The Rey. P. Keith on the Conditions of Germination. 491 
plex with corncous processes, and are of a very dark reddish brown co- 
lour. 
This species occurs in pasture fields in Denbighshire. In the month of 
June the female spins a lenticular cocoon of yellowish or greenish brown 
silk, of a compact texture, with a whitish margin of a slighter texture ; it 
contains between 50 and 60 yellowish white eggs of a spherical figure, not 
agglutinated together. The cocoon, which is always connected with the 
spinners of the female, and is carried along with her, measures about jth 
of an inch in diameter; when the young quit it they attach themselves 
to the body of the mother. 
Oakland, Denbighshire, 1836. 
LXXXIV. Of the Conditions of Germination, in reply to 
M. DeCandolle. By the Rev. P. Ketru, £.L.8.* 
OTHUING can be so gratifying to an author as the com- 
mendation that comes from a critic of acknowledged ta- 
lent and learning—* laudatus d laudato viro.” But we, the 
oi moaaos of botanical scribblers, ought, perhaps, to rest satis- 
fied, and to think ourselves very well off if a first- or second- 
rate wrangler in the science condescends to take notice of 
us, if it were but for the purpose of giving us a rap on the 
knuckles. 
In my System of Physiological Botany published in 1816+, 
I enumerated five conditions as necessary to the process of 
the germination of the seed, and thought I had adduced good 
grounds for the said enumeration. Yet its accuracy has been 
impugned by a great botanist, and my five conditions reduced 
to three. I ought, perhaps, to submit in silence, and take in 
good part the correction of a great master; but as I am not 
satisfied of the soundness of the views of my corrector, I will 
venture to vindicate my original statement.—Proceed we now 
to the article itself. 
I. The first condition necessary to germination is the ma- 
turity of the seed. Unripe seeds seldom germinate, because 
their parts are not yet prepared ta form the chemical combi- 
nations on which germination depends. ‘This fact M. De 
Candolle denies, saying that “ M. Keith ne sest pas ex- 
primé avec precision lorsqu’il a posé la maturité de la graine, 
pour premiere condition générale et nécessaire a la germina- 
tion”; and adding that Senebier and ‘Treviranus succeeded 
in making green peas to germinate a short time before they 
were absolutely ripet{. If M. DeCandolle had read to the end 
of the paragraph which he criticizes, he would have seen that 
the identical exception which he specifies is mentioned by 
* Communicated by the Author. 
+ Vol. ii. p. 3. { Phys. Veg. il. 662. 
