412 STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



remains unchanged or is increased only 2 or 3 per cent. 

 As the fruit proceeds with its drying the albumen and the 

 embryo lose weight together during the first few months. 

 The weight of the embryo, originally about 2 grains, is reduced 

 to I '8 grain after three months and to i'5 after six months, 

 the embryo still almost filling its cavity and showing only 

 a slight collapse at the sides, whilst its weight is only increased 

 by 14 or 15 per cent, when placed in water. There is but 

 little marked shrinkage in the form of the embryo, a result 

 that is certainly due to the increase in its oily constituents ; 

 and we have already seen in Chapter XIV that as the kernel 

 ripens the oil increases in amount. It is only with very old 

 lifeless coco-nuts that we would expect to notice great shrink- 

 age of the embryo. 



Thus the behaviour of the embryo of the coco-nut is 

 evidently peculiar. When comparable with those of other 

 palms in the early mature state of the fruit it is, as shown in 

 the table above, full of water, losing two-thirds of its weight 

 when drying spontaneously in the detached condition, and 

 returning to its original weight when resting on water. But 

 in the later stages of maturation, when the oil in the kernel 

 increases in quantity and the fruit is drying, the embryo 

 becomes more oily, and loses but little water when detached 

 and allowed to dry, and only increases its weight slightly 

 when placed on water. This peculiarity is also brought out 

 in the next table. 

 The embryos Now, the embryos of most of the other palms examined 



pahM^'^ behaved very differently, as shown in the results below 



tabulated. Whilst with the fresh ripe fruits the embryo 

 usually fills its cavity and is more or less in a state of satur- 

 ation, it shrinks considerably as the fruit dries, so that in 

 the course of two or three months it usually presents itself 

 as a more or less shrivelled object but partly filling the cavity. 

 Such shrunken embryos, when placed in water, double their 

 weight in a couple of hours and regain their original form. 

 The shrinking of the embryo may even be evident in ripe 



