THE HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATION ii 



furnished me with some new ideas on the subject of the 

 sequence in the genesis of the berry and capsule, two types " 

 of fruits often associated. With the observations on 

 Momordica my active work in Jamaica came to an end. 

 However, whilst spending the last few days on the summit 

 of Mount Diavolo, rambling in the forests and increasing 

 my seed materials for future work in England, the theory 

 of cosmic adaptation before alluded to was further elaborated. 



During the spring and summer of 1908 I was occupied 

 in extending my observations on the rest-period of seeds. My work in 

 on the swelling antecedent to germination, on the relative "£^" • 

 weight of the embryo in albuminous seeds, and on various 

 other subjects. In May I began a series of observations 

 on the fruiting and seeding of the Ivy (Hedera Helix\ which 

 have been extended to the spring of 191 1. The result has 

 been to establish the growth of the embryo within the seed 

 throughout the winter months, and the not infrequent 

 germination on the plant (vivipary) in the spring. Here 

 much assistance has been received from collections of fruits 

 made at intervals during a winter by my sister, Mrs H. 

 Mortimer. In the late summer and early autumn my 

 systematic observations on the maturation, dehiscence, and 

 drying of fruits were resumed. The fruits included those 

 of Iris fcetidissima^ Quercus Robur (Oak), Arum maculatum^ 

 Tamus communis^ and several other plants. In most cases 

 the inquiry was continued during the next two or three 

 years, the final result in the instance of the Oak being to 

 establish a slight but normal tendency to vivipary or germina- 

 tion on the tree. 



Perhaps the most important outcome of these observations a due to the 

 was the clue to the homology of fruits supplied by my observa- fruits. °^^° 

 tion of the shrinkage of seeds within the moist berry of 

 Berberis. This afforded a clue for the comparison of fruits 

 in their various stages, which was subsequently strengthened 

 by data supplied by the seeds of Arum^ Tamus, and Passiflora, 

 and ultimately enabled me to trace the homologies in the 



