322 STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



The regime The regime of the drying fruit as indicated by the loss of 



of the drying • ^ r ^ • i i i i • n 



fruit. weight or the pericarp and the seeds can be numerically 



formulated for nearly sixty plants from the data given in the 

 following table. If we wish to extend the inquiry by dis- 

 tinguishing in the case of the seed between the seed proper 

 and its coverings in this drying process, the data for several 

 of these plants will be found in Chapter IX. Should one 

 desire to go further and differentiate in these respects not 

 only between the seed-coverings and the seed proper, but also 

 in the case of albuminous seeds between the behaviour of the 

 albumen and the embryo, the requisite data for plants like 

 Cassia fistula^ Poinciana regia^ etc., will be found in the same 

 chapter. 



In the first place, regarding the fruit as made up of pericarp 

 and seeds, we can extract from the table all the elements 

 necessary for determining its drying regime, namely : 



{a) The weight of the moist fruit ; 



{b) Its loss in the drying process ; 



(<:) The proportion of pericarp in the moist and dry fruit. 



In the same way, for the seed we should require : 



{a) The weight of the moist seed ; 



(b) Its loss in the drying process ; 



(c) The proportion of the coats in the moist and dry 



seed. 

 The subject can only be illustrated here by a few examples. 

 If the reader desires to work out the regime of other plants, 

 he will find in the table the requisite data. 



