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CHAPTER VIII. 



OF THE SEED. 



The action of the seed is confined to that phenomenon which 

 occurs when the embryo that the seed contains is first called 

 into life, and which is named germination. 



If seeds are sown as soon as they are gathered, they gene- 

 rally vegetate, at the latest, in the ensuing spring ; but, if they 

 are dried first, it often happens that they will lie a whole year 

 or more in the ground without altering. This character 

 varies extremely in different species : the power of preserving 

 their vitality is also extremely variable ; some will retain their 

 germinating powers many years, in any latitude, and under 

 almost any circumstances. Melon seeds have been known to 

 grow when 41 years old, Maize 30 years, Rye 40 years, the 

 Sensitive plant 60 years. Kidney Beans 100 years. Clover 

 will come up from soil newly brought to the surface of the 

 earth, in places in which no clover had been previously 

 known to grow in the memory of man, and I have at this 

 moment 3 plants of Raspberries before me, which have been 

 raised in the garden of the Horticultural Society from seeds 

 taken from the stomach of a man, whose skeleton was found 

 30 feet below the surface of the earth, at the bottom of a 

 barrov/ which was opened near Dorchester. He had been 

 buried with some coins of the Emperor Hadrian, and it is 

 therefore probable that the seeds were sixteen or seventeen hu7i- 

 dred years old. 



The chemical action of seeds has been admirably explained 

 by De Candolle, from whom the principal part of what follows 

 is borrowed, with the addition of some recent observations by 

 Edwards and Colin. 



Water, heat, and atmospheric air (or at least oxygen) are 

 the conditions without which germination cannot take place. 



