[Vor. 5 
232 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 
ether on sprouting seeds. Siragusa (779) confirms such in- 
hibition, but also points out the subsequent recovery there- 
from. Giglioli ('82) studied the action of gases and liquids 
on the vitality of seeds, chloroform and ether being among a 
large number of substances tried. Medicago sativa showed 
a high resistance to both the anaesthetics in liquid form ac- 
cording to the time of treatment,—showing germination of 29 
per cent after 484 days’ immersion. Romanes (794) found 
no appreciable effect on the germination of various seeds 
subjected to ether or other vapors for long periods, the seeds 
having been previously stored in vacuo for several months. 
Townsend (799) showed that while weak doses of ether ac- 
celerated the germination of cereals, vegetable seeds, and 
fungous spores, stronger ones either retarded or completely 
inhibited such action. Recovery of activity was also noted 
when normal environment was restored. Coupin (’99) com- 
pared the resistance of dry seeds to inhibitory action of 
saturated atmospheres of ether and chloroform with that of 
seeds previously subjected to moist conditions. The former 
were unaffected; the latter showed inhibition or death from 
treatments as weak as 37/10000. Duggar (701) found chloro- 
form to be lethal in one-half hour to spores of Aspergillus 
and Phycomyces. Ether had little effect as a stimulus, except 
in low concentrations, on Aspergillus. Opposed to Coupin 
were the findings of Schmid (’01), who reported that chloro- 
form vapor was lethal to the protoplasm of latent seeds; that 
the seed-coats in that state were permeable to the anaesthetic 
vapor to varying degrees, and that injury varied with such 
permeability. Dixon (’02), in checking the work of Giglioli 
on the resistance of seeds to toxic agents, found that the re- 
sistance to chloroform and other poisons, as indicated by 
germination after treatment, depended on the integrity of the 
seed-coat. 
Becquerel (’05), in the face of such contradictory findings, 
attacked the question anew, using seeds of wheat, lucerne, 
clover, peas, and lupine, both air-dried and dried to constant 
weight, with seed-coats injured and intact. His results also 
tended to show that lack of injury depends largely upon the 
