GERMINATION. 29 



grs. :) the analysis shows besides that in this particular case, the 

 excess of the loss in the present case over and above that which is 

 ascribed to the carbon, is not altogether due to the elements of water, 

 inasmuch as it is partly ascribable to carbonic oxide : for 



1.049 grs. of carbon, 

 1.404 " of oxygen, 



Represent 2.453 " of oxide of carbon. 



Supposing this to be so, and the first period of the germination of 

 the trefoil to have been conducted in a close vessel, the volume of 

 atmospheric air would have been increased ; because 1 volume of 

 carbonic oxide-j-^ volume of oxygen— 1 volume of carbonic acid gas. 

 It is consequently evident that for each volume of carbonic oxide 

 produced from the seed, there is one half of this volume added to 

 the total volume of the atmosphere. 



It will not, perhaps, be usele.ss to advert to the circumstance that 

 the increase of volume, which in the experiment I have just related 

 must have amounted to about twenty-five cubic inches, would cer- 

 tainly have passed undetected, if the experiment had been conducted 

 in a close vessel. For inasmuch as several quarts of atmospheric 

 air must have been used to place 38.193 grs. of seed in conditions 

 favorable for germination, it may readily be imagined that the in- 

 crease of volume must have been too small a fraction of the total 

 mass of air to be appreciated with any certainty. 



GERMINATION OF WHEAT. 



The wheat employed, on being dried, lost 0.652 grain of moisture. 

 Thirty-one grains were arranged for germination, which process 

 was suspended immediately after the appearance of the radicles. 

 The young stalks were hardly visible. The germinated grain looked 

 slightly shrivelled : on being crushed, after having been dried, it 

 scarcely differed in appearance from ordinary wheat reduced to 

 powder, a considerable quantity of starch being still recognisable. 



The wheat, before germinating, taken as dry, and free from ashes, 

 weighed 2.439 grms., or 37.653 grs. troy. 



The seed when germinated and gathered, under the same condi- 

 tion, weighed 2.365 grms., or 36.510 grs. troy. 



Elementary analysis gives for the composition of — 



WHEAT NOT GERMINATED. GERMINATED WHEAT. 



Carbon 46.6 47.0 



Hydrogen. 5-8 5-9 



Azote 3.45 3.7 



Oxygen ...44.15 43. 4 



100.0 100.0 



RESULTS OF EXPERIMENT. 



Grains troy. Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen. Azote. 



Wheat placed to germinate 37.653 containing 17.47 2.176 16.56 1.281 



Wheat when germinated 36.510 " 17.15 2.145 15-83 1.343 ^ 



Difference —1.143 " —0.032 —I). 031 —0.073 +0.062 



