viii STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



Whilst arranging the results of my observations, the difficulty 

 of establishing a nexus between them soon became apparent. 

 One thing led to another in an irregular manner, the new line 

 of inquiry being often determined by some accidental indication, 

 or by some inconsistency in the results of experiments. Per- 

 ceiving that it would not be conducive to method to follow 

 the order of inception of the several inquiries, I devised the 

 plan of arranging the materials to be now described. The 

 shrinking and swelling processes of seeds were first discussed 

 until the question of permeability or impermeability was 

 raised so frequently that the matter had to be dealt with 

 before further progress could be made. In its turn, the 

 subject of permeable and impermeable seeds was treated on 

 its own ground until the question of their hygroscopicity 

 demanded investigation. So also the matters relating to the 

 proportional weight of parts of fruits, and to the connection 

 between the seed-number and the fruit-weight, were discussed 

 until the disturbing influences of the abortion of ovules and 

 the failure of seeds became so obvious that an inquiry into 

 their nature was necessitated. 



Amongst the other difficult questions that presented them- 

 selves in this inquiry was that relating to the unit of weight 

 most suitable for seeds and fruits. It was soon found, how- 

 ever, that the grain was by far the most fitting for my purpose, 

 and it was accordingly adopted. The grain is not only one 

 of the most ancient and one of the most extensively employed 

 units of weight for small objects (such as precious stones), 

 but it is Nature's primitive suggestion. Seeds of small size 

 are in use as weights in the East at the present day ; and 

 other persons besides myself must have been at times so 

 circumstanced that they had to extemporise a balance and 

 employ grains of rice as weights. This choice has enabled me 

 to avoid the multiplicity of terms inseparable from most 

 systems. Whether it happens that 60,000 grains go to weigh 

 down a green coco-nut, or that 6000 Juncus seeds go to 

 weigh down a grain, no other term of weight need be used. 



