THE SHRINKING AND SWELLING SEED 203 



tinction in their behaviour, the deficiency in the gain of 

 the coats of the permeable seed being much the largest. 

 But the difference is only one of degree, since both types 

 of seeds illustrate the same general principle. There is 

 much that is extremely suggestive in these figures ; and 

 if we compare them with those tabulated below which 

 represent the average results for impermeable, variable, 

 and permeable leguminous seeds, we perceive that the 

 regime illustrated by the two type-seeds just dealt with 

 applies generally to seeds of the family. It is as true of 

 the individual species as it is of the aggregate. Of the 

 seventeen species of leguminous seeds, for which complete 

 data are given in the preceding general table, all but one, 

 that of Bauhinia, conform to the principle that during the 

 swelling of the resting seed for germination the coats fail 

 to regain all the water lost in the shrinking process, whilst 

 the kernel not only regains all the lost water but absorbs 



TABLE GIVING THE AVERAGE SHRINKING AND SWELLING RATIOS FOR 

 THE COATS, KERNEL, AND ENTIRE SEED OF IMPERMEABLE, VARI- 

 ABLE, AND PERMEABLE LEGUMINOUS SEEDS. 



The impermeable seeds used are those of Dioclea rcflexa, Entada scandens, Entada 

 polystachya (impermeable type), Guilandina bonducella, Leucana glauca. The variable 

 seeds are those of Acacia Farnesiana, Bauhtnia, Casalpinia sepiaria, Casalpinia Sappan, 

 Canavalia obtusifolia, Cassia fistula, Poinciana regia. The permeable belong to Cajanus 

 indicus, Pisum sativum, Faba vulgaris, Phaseolus multiflorus. 



Shrinking and swelling ratios for the pre-resting (Pr.), resting (R.), and swollen 

 (Sw.) seed stated in two ways, the pre-resting seed being taken as 100 in the first way, 

 and the resting seed as i in the second way. 



