THE HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATION 9 



the ultimate result was the same. Such was the commence- 

 ment of a long series of experiments which has extended off 

 and on over three years. In some of the early experiments I 

 tested the capacity for resorption possessed after heating by 

 leaves, wood, slices of fruits, etc., and also by hydrated 

 minerals, such as opal and chlorite. 



Another line of inquiry first taken up at this time was 

 the determination of the relative weight of the embryo in other lines 

 albuminous seeds. An investigation somewhat crudely begun ° i"q"'''y- 

 soon branched off in many directions, the seeds of palms 

 figuring largely in the results. Almost at the commencement 

 of my work I had started experiments on the effect of time on 

 the weight of seeds. They were carefully weighed and placed 

 in paper packets, the intention being to extend the experiments 

 over years. At this time I was feeling my way in many small 

 inquiries, striking out blindly very often in my efforts to 

 obtain further clues. Thus I took with me to Jamaica in the 

 winter 1907-8 several seeds with the object of determining 

 their changes of weight under different climatic conditions, the 

 result being given in Chapter VII. 



These investigations began in October 1906, and during 

 the first twelve months I mainly ignored the fruit ; but not 

 altogether, since during the summer I had been periodically The author's 

 observing some capsules of Scilla nutans to ascertain the no^"directed 

 effect of cutting a window in the walls of the young fruit to the fruit, 

 on the maturation of the seeds. The experiment was not 

 deterrent and the changes not important. In a word, the 

 seeds of the Bluebell had behaved like those of a Gymno- 

 sperm. About the same time Lubimenko was carrying out 

 a similar series of experiments on leguminous pods. 



Now began some observations on the dehiscence and 

 drying of the capsules of Iris Pseudacorus and of Msculus 

 Hippocastanum (Horse-chestnut). I experimented with the 

 idea that dehiscence was the result of drying, a notion that 

 guided many subsequent experiments, though a year passed 

 before my error was discovered. 



