Seeds and Their Germination. 7 



seeds (except the wheat and corn) into a cup half full of 

 water, and leave them there until to-morrow at the begin- 

 ning of this hour. Before the next exercise hour look up in 

 the dictionary all the words new to you. 



EXERCISE 2. 



Take your seeds out of the water and put them on blot- 

 ting-paper or a cloth. Which have absorbed the most water? 

 Why are the scarlet-runner beans lighter colored than they 

 were when dry ? Examine the hilum, rnicropyle, and chal- 

 aza of a scarlet-runner seed. Cut the skin around the edge 

 from near the rnicropyle to the chalaza, and carefully slip 

 it off. What do you find on the inside nearly opposite the 

 rnicropyle ? Put the kernel back in its coat. Observe the 

 relation between the micropyle and the pocket. What fits 

 into the pocket ? The stem of the kernel is called the rad- 

 icle or caulicle. Draw a side view of the kernel, and also a 

 view with the caulicle up, showing how the two thick pieces 

 are attached to it. Break off one of the thick pieces. Draw 

 the piece with the caulicle flat side up. The thick pieces 

 are cotyledons, and the little stem with its pair of tiny white 

 leaves lying between them is the plumule. The whole ker- 

 nel is called an embryo. Break off the remaining cotyledon 

 and draw the caulicle with its plumule head. Remove the 

 coats of a Windsor bean and a common bean so as to keep 

 their pockets entire. What part of the coat is opposite the 

 tip of the caulicle ? Is it really a hole ? If, when the bean 

 is tightly covered with its coat, the caulicle should become 

 longer it would evidently press against the bottom of the 



