GERMINATION 635, 



Chinese PaJefong, a white alloy, according to the same authority, consists of 5 parts 

 of copper, alloyed with 7 parts of nickel, and 7 parts of zinc. 



The best alloy for making bearings, bushes, and steps for the steel or iron gudgeons,; 

 and pivots of machinery to run in, is said to consist of 90 parts of copper, 5 of zinc, 

 and 5 of antimony. See ALLOY and COPPER. 



GERMAN STEEL. A metal made of a white iron in forges where charcoal . is 

 employed, the ores used being either bog-iron ore or the sparry carbonate. 



GERMAN TINDER. See AMADOU. 



GERMAN- YEAST. See YEAST. 



GERMINATION. (Eng. and Fr. ; Das Keimen, Ger.) The first indication of 

 vital force in the embryo plant. The seed being placed in the soil, a proper tem- 

 perature existing, and a due quantity of water being supplied, a chemical action is. 

 established, and heat is developed. In fact, a slow combustion takes place, during 

 which oxygen is combined with carbon, and carbonic acid is liberated. The starclr 

 of the grain, by the process of germination, is converted into sugar by taking, into 

 combination one equivalent of the elements of water. " While this operation is 

 progressing, the embryo enlarges, sending down its root (radicle) into the soil, 

 and forcing upwards, towards the light, the cotyledons or leaf lobes, and the plumule. 



These phenomena of the commencement of vegetable life can be well studied in 

 the process of malting, in which the barley, by the conversion of its starch into 

 gugar, becomes malt. See MALTING. 



The direct action of sunlight is injurious to the germinating seed, consequently it 

 is a law of nature that a dark soil should be the bed in which this remarkable opera- 

 tion commences, and is continued, until the first leaves appear above the soil. In the 

 process of malting, care is taken that the floors upon which the germination is esta- 

 blished are but dimly illuminated. 



It has been proved the discovery having been first made by the editor of this 

 Dictionary that Light separated by means of absorbent media from the chemical 

 power (Actinism) of the sunbeam entirely stops germination, whereas the dark 

 chemical rays have the power of quickening germination, even when the seeds are 

 placed at a considerable depth beneath the soil. As these experiments are rarely 

 repeated, and as even in the most recent chemical publications (Watts's ' Dictionary of 

 Chemistry,' amongst others), they are not alluded to, the old and in every way un- 

 certain experiments of Saussure being adopted, it may be well to state the simple 

 form of experiment by which the fact may be proved. 



Take a piece of glass stained yellow with silver; ascertain that it is so, by ex- 

 posing a little chloride of silver behind it, to sunshine. If the chloride of silver does 

 not darken, the glass is of the right kind ; all the chemical rays are cut off. Tak'e 

 another piece of glass of the deepest blue that can be obtained, the blue being the 

 result of cobalt. In the first we have a glass through which the solar light passes 

 freely, but it prevents the permeation of the chemical rays. In the second we have a 

 medium which is traversed freely by the chemical rays (Actinism), but very little light 

 is admitted. Place such pieces of glass over a box of earth, in which are planted 

 an equal number of seeds, at the same depth ; all the circumstances, as it regards mois- 

 ture and temperature, being the same. The seeds under the blue glass will germinate 

 with extraordinary rapidity, while the seeds under the yellow glass will not germinate 

 at all. See ' Eesearches on Light,' and papers in the Reportsof the British Association 

 on ' The Influence of Light on the Growth of Plants, &c.,' by Kobert Hunt. The follow- 

 ing letter from Mr. Charles Lawson, of Edinburgh, September 8, 1853, has practically 

 settled this important discovery: 



' My dear Sir, I am favoured with yours of the 5th, relative to my practical ex- 

 perience in the effect of the chemical agency of coloured media on the germination of 

 seeds and the growth of plants. 



' I must first explain that it is our practice to test the germinating powers of all 

 seeds which come into our warehouses before we send them out for sale ; and of 

 course it is an object to discover, with as little delay as possible, the extent that the 

 vital principle is active, as the value comes to be depreciated in the ratio it is found 

 to be dormant. For instance, if we sow 100 seeds of any sort, and the whole germi- 

 nate, the seed will be of the highest current value ; but if only 90 germinate, its value 

 is 10 per cent, less ; if 80, its value falls 20 per cent. 



1 1 merely give this detail to show the practical value of this test, and the influence 

 it exerts on the fluctuation of prices. 



' Our usual plan formerly was to sow the seeds to be tested in a hotbed, or frame, 



and then watch the progress and note the results. It was usually from eight to 



fourteen days before we were in a condition to decide on the commercial value of the 



seeds under value. 



My attention was, however, directed to your excellent work, " On the Physical 



