64, 65.] 



GERMINATION 



77 



moisture, air, and warmth. Moisture is necessary for 

 softening the integuments, dissolving the nutritive 

 matter, and facilitating its circulation. This is sup- 

 plied in the rain and dew. Air, or rather its oxygen, 

 is required for the con- 

 version of the starch into 

 sugar a process always 

 depending upon oxidation. 

 The oxygen absorbed 

 unites with a portion of 

 the carbon of the starch, 

 producing heat, evolving 

 carbon dioxide, and thus 

 converting the remainder 

 into grape-sugar, soluble 

 and nutritive. 



195. Warmth is a req- 

 uisite condition of all vital 

 action, as well in the 

 sprouting of a seed as in 

 the hatching of an egg. 



The proper degree of temperature for our own climate 

 may be stated at 60 to 90. Extremes of heat and 

 of cold are not, however, fatal to all germination. In 

 one of the Geysers of Iceland, which was hot enough 

 to boil an egg in four minutes, a species of Chara was 

 found in a growing and fruitful state. The hot springs 

 and pools of San Bernardino, California, at the con- 

 stant heat of 190, have several species of plants grow- 

 ing within their waters. Many species also arise and 

 flower in the snows of Mt. Hood, along their lower 

 borders. Darkness is favorable to germination, as 

 proved by experiment, but not an indispensable condi- 



231, 232, Germination of Indian Corn. 



