GERMINATION 



2483 



GERRYMANDER 



Moisture softens the outer coat of the seed, 

 relaxes the tissues of the embryo and also dis- 

 solves certain food materials present in the 

 seeds so they may be assimilated. Too little 

 moisture and too much are equally injurious 

 to growth, for the first condition retards ger- 

 mination, and the second causes many species 

 to decay because of lack of air. A supply of 

 oxygen is necessary, because without this sub- 

 stance certain chemical changes which accom- 

 pany growth cannot take place. The time 

 required for germination varies greatly with 

 different plants. Seeds of trees and shrubs 

 usually take more time to sprout than do 

 those of grains, grasses and vegetables; the 

 ash and hornbeam, for instance, do not grow 

 until the second spring after the sowing. Pars- 

 ley seeds sprout in about two weeks, and those 

 of grains, grasses and many herbs of the pea 

 family in from two to eight days. 



Examples of Germination. The bean is a 

 good example of those plants which have two 

 seed leaves (cotyledons), both of which rise 

 above the ground during the growing process 

 (see COTYLEDON). First, the outer coat of the 

 seed (the testa) splits open, and a conelike 

 outgrowth pushes its way downward into the 

 soil, soon developing a covering of fine hairs on 

 its sides. This is the beginning of the root 

 system of the plant. Then the cotyledons 

 burst open, and as they rise from the ground 

 a green stem develops between them and the 

 roots in the soil. Under the action of the sun- 

 light the cotyledons turn green, but as the 

 nourishment stored in them is absorbed by the 

 plant they wither and fall. Their place, how- 

 ever, is taken by a pair of true leaves, which, 

 with the developing root system, supply the 

 young plant with food. 



The pea, another plant with two seed leaves, 

 germinates differently, for its cotyledons re- 

 main in the ground while their nourishment 

 is being absorbed, and the first leaf that ap- 

 pears above ground is a true leaf. The ger- 

 mination of seeds having but one cotyledon is 

 illustrated by that of the Indian corn. Here 

 the nourishment is stored at the large end of 

 the kernel. As in case of the pea, the nourish- 

 ment is absorbed while the seed leaf remains 



underground, and the first leaf above ground 

 is a true leaf. W.F.R. 



GERM THEORY OF DISEASE. See DIS- 

 EASE, subtitle Disease in the Human Body. 



GEROME, zharom', JEAN LEON (1824-1904), 

 a French painter and sculptor, considered one 

 of the most eminent artists of the later nine- 

 teenth century. He received practically all of 

 his early training from Paul Delaroche; this 

 was supplemented by extensive travel. His 

 work is remarkable for perfect drawing and 

 grouping, although critics consider his color_ 

 often lacking in warmth. Most of his pictures 

 are in French museums, but he is also well 

 represented in American collections, particu- 

 larly the Metropolitan Museum, New York 

 City. Some of his famous paintings are Glad- 

 iators from Caesar, The Age of Augustus, Slave 

 Market in Rome, Death of Caesar and Duel 

 After a Masked Ball. With the article CAESAR 

 is a faithful reproduction, in halftone, of the 

 Death of Caesar. 



GERONIMO, jeron'imo (71834-1909), an 

 Apache chief of the Chiricahua band, who 

 during the years 1884 and 1886, as the leader 

 of a band of savages, made hostile raids into 

 New Mexico and Arizona. General Crook 

 forced him to 

 surrender in 1886, 

 but on the march 

 to Fort Bowie, 

 where imprison- 

 ment a wait eel >,<; 

 them, the Indians 

 escaped and re- 

 newed their dep- 

 redations. The 

 vigorous meas- 

 ures of General 

 Miles, who re- 

 placed General 

 Crook, resulted in the second surrender of 

 Geronimo, who was sent to Fort Pickens, Fla., 

 and later to Fort Sill, Okla., where he was 

 held as a military prisoner until his death. 



GERRYMANDER, ger i man'der, a word 

 coined in the United States in 1812, defining 

 an unsatisfactory division of a state into polit- 

 ical districts. When Elbridge Gerry was gov- 

 ernor of Massachusetts the legislature made a 

 new division of the districts for the election of 

 state senators, grouping the counties together 

 that returned large Federalist majorities. By 

 this means the representation of the Federalist 

 party in the legislature was reduced. One dis- 

 trict, under the new law, was so unusual in 



GERONIMO 



