Germination of the Seed of the Castor-oil Plant. 385 



Table II. Endosperms only Examined. 



and glycerine. That there is a connexion between the former and 

 the acid which passes into the cotyledon seems certain when we com- 

 pare the formation of the latter as the former disappears, and remem- N 

 ber that the fatty acids themselves are not capable of dialysis. The 

 transformation is not brought about by the agency of the ferment, 

 nor is anything excreted by the cotyledon which will bring about the 

 change. It must not be forgotten that the endosperm is the seat of 

 many processes of oxidation, for, as already stated, Detmer has shown 

 the germination is accompanied by a constant evolution of C0 2 . 



