54 MISSOURI AGR. EXP. STA. RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. 17 



Maze 2 produced early maturity in seeds by drying grains of common 

 field corn containing 50-60 per cent of moisture for five or six days. 

 While the seeds before drying did not sprout; they did so after 

 drying, producting normal plants. Maze concluded that the evapora- 

 tion of the volatile matter tends to retard the growth of the embryo 

 and hence aids in the normal development. 



Stimulation of Seeds with Anesthetics. According to Hempel, 3 

 Clemens and Marcet (1848) were the first investigators to study the 

 effects of anesthetics on plants. Afterward many workers experi- 

 mented with plants by treating them with various anesthetics and 

 narcotics, the earlier ones for the purpose of studying irritation and 

 movement, but later ones for studying the rest period. 



Giglioli 4 appears to have been the first to study the effects of 

 ether and other gases and liquids on the vitality of seeds. Bernard, 

 Sirgusa (1879), Detmer (1882) and Dubois (1891) made use of 

 ether in studying seeds and seedlings. 



Townsend 5 found that while a strong atmosphere of ether tends 

 to retard germination, a weak dose appears to hasten growth. How- 

 ever, his results following ether treatments were not always uniform. 



Johannsen (1893) (see reference to Hempel) diminished the rest 

 period of seeds by etherization, but states that the rest period could 

 be broken only at its beginning or toward its close. After the rest 

 period had passed, no stimulation of germination was noticed. He 

 gave it as his opinion that anesthetics act on the seeds in one of two 

 ways ; that is, on the "power of growth" (Wachstumstatigkeit) or on 

 the "growth suspending power" (Hemmung), or possibly on both. 



Coupin (1899), Schmid (1901), Behrens (1908) and Eberhard 

 (1906) conducted experiments in etherizing dry and soaked seeds and 

 all found that the rest period could be shortened by the treatment, 

 but they held different opinions as to the specific results of the anes- 

 thetic. 



As regards the relation of etherization to transpiration, Jumelle 

 (1890), Lommen, Schneider (1893), and Woods and Dixon (1896), 

 secured opposite results, the first two workers finding that transpira- 

 tion was increased, while the others reported that it was reduced. 



2. Maze, Exp. Sta. Record, Vol. 24, p. 720. 



3. Hempel, Researches into the Effect of Etherization on Plant Metab- 

 olism. Det. Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab Skrifter, 7. Rahkke, 

 Naturvidensk, Og Mathem. Afd. VI, 6. Copenhagen, 1911. 



4. Giglioli, Nature, Vol. 35, p. 328. 



5. Townsend, Botanical Gazette, Vol. 27, pp. 458-66. 



