n6 



STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



attain their maximum weight in a few days. If a number of 

 seeds are bared together in the same experiment, the increase of 

 weight might astonish the observer when unprepared for such 

 a result. A sample of 1000 grains of the seeds of Guilandina 

 bonducella would in less than a week weigh from noo to 

 1 1 80 grains; but even the testimony of the bared kernel of 

 a single seed as given below would be sufficiently striking. 



The following data represent the result of an experiment 

 on a single bared kernel of Guilandina bonducella : 



Original weight 



After i day . 



4 days . 



55 7 55 



1 5' i grains 

 16-8 



*7'7 55 

 17-0 55 



The range of 

 the increase 

 of weight of 

 the bared 

 kernels of 

 Guilandina 

 bonducella. 



Ji -* JJ I ft 



Gain in weight . . . 17-2 per cent. 



Although five or six days are usually sufficient in the case 

 of this and other impermeable seeds for the attainment of the 

 maximum weight, the period may be as short as three or as 

 long as ten days, the time being extended or shortened by 

 the relative dryness or humidity of the air. The varying 

 hygrometric conditions of the air also account for some of the 

 differences between the results of experiments, but only to the 

 extent of 2 or 3 per cent., which represents the ordinary range 

 of hygroscopicity. The results of six experiments on the bared 

 kernels of Guilandina bonducella^ mostly in the West Indies, the 

 average weight of a kernel being 1 6 or 17 grains, are given below. 



RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE BARED KERNELS OF GUILANDINA 

 BONDUCELLA, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN WEIGHT BY THE ABSORP- 

 TION OF AQUEOUS VAPOUR AFTER AN EXPOSURE OF A FEW DAYS 



TO THE AlR. 



