io6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



were necessarily many who grew up in ignorance of the new, or 

 who did not learn of its existence nntil too late for changing the 

 mode of thought. Just as the old psychology led to an improved 

 science on the part of the progressive men, so it led to a degener- 

 ated form on the part of the others. Unable to grasp and to 

 apply the methods of true science, these men can not even under- 

 stand what the new is all about ; and in their attempt to do some- 

 thing new they have fallen into the absurdities of " psychical re- 

 search," or " experimented " with spiritualistic mediums, or gath- 

 ered "statistics" concerning ghosts, or interviewed the several 

 personalities of the hypnotic subject. 



The older psychology, with its traditions and its dignity, was 

 a discipline to be treated with filial consideration and respect; 

 but the latest " sensation-psychology," plunged in the dregs of all 

 the mysticism and superstition of the middle ages, not only con- 

 tributes nothing to the progress of science, but arouses in opposi- 

 tion to it all the ghosts of the witches' caldron. 



Summarizing, we are entitled to say that the new psychology 

 is the old psychology in a new phase of development ; that the 

 impulses to this development came from physics, physiology, and 

 astronomy ; and that the resulting application of the best meth- 

 ods of modern science to the great problems handed down from 

 the past is what makes the new psychology -a true science worthy 

 of its origin. 



THE LATENT VITALITY OF SEEDS. 



By M. C. DE CANDOLLE. 



SEEDS that remain in keeping without losing the faculty of 

 germination are said to be in a state of latent life. The term 

 is not exact, for it leaves us still to ask whether the life of the 

 seeds is completely stopped, or is simply slackened in its activity 

 questions to which the same answer can not be given under all 

 circumstances. It may be that a seed will continue to respire 

 without producing any formation of new histological elements, 

 when a loss of substance results to the plantule it contains which 

 is compensated for by the assimilation of reserve materials from 

 the energides, or living protoplasmic masses of the cells. A plant- 

 ule may be supposed to live in this way for a considerable time 

 if the temperature is favorable and the seed and the surrounding 

 air are not too dry. Under these conditions the latent life may 

 be considered one of slackened activity. 



An experiment by MM. Van Tieghem and Bonnier proves 

 that seeds may retain their vitality for a considerable period in 

 this condition. Three lots of peas and beans were left one in 



