STUDIES IN 

 SEEDS AND FRUITS 



CHAPTER I 



THE HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATION 



This investigation commenced as a study of the rest-period 

 of seeds ; but its course has often been determined by small 

 indications, the balance and the oven, aided by a sharp knife 

 and a pocket-lens, being the only means of research employed. 

 From the beginning it was for me a leap in the dark, since 

 although investigators far abler than myself have written on 

 the subject, there was little that seemed to offer a clue. Need- 

 ing some firm ground to stand upon with reference to fruit- 

 maturation and as regards the behaviour of the ripening seed, 

 and of the seed entering the rest-period, I turned to the most 

 authoritative works at my disposal, those of Goebel and Pfeffer. 

 From the pages of the Organography of Plants I learned that 

 the biology of the ripening fruit has hitherto scarcely received 

 attention (English edition, 1900-5, ii. 570-571) ; and when 

 consulting the Physiology of Plants with reference to the assump- 

 tion of impermeability by many seeds when they enter the 

 rest-period, I learned that the means by which the power of 

 resistance to drying is gained and the changes which cause its 

 loss are quite unknown (English edition, 1903, ii. 253). 



I suppose the reason why many have not ventured in this 

 field is that there seemed no near prospect of obtaining tangible 

 and serviceable results. It has in truth been for me like an 



I I 



