320 



STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



was no other reason against it, to burden these pages with 

 recounting them. One which occurs to me as I write is the 

 relations as regards weight and size between the placental axis 

 or columella of certain capsules. In Note 17 of the Appendix 

 I compare together in this respect the capsules of the Primrose, 

 weighing about 4 grains, and of the Mahogany tree, weighing 

 about 6000 grains, or 1 500 times as much. Although this is 

 a comparison of the small with the great, the balance is equally 

 effective in both cases in determining the relation of parts. 



THE PERICARP AND THE SEED. 



TABLE COMPARING THEIR Loss IN WEIGHT DURING THE DRYING 

 AND SHRINKING PROCESS. 



(The results are given in percentages, the moist pericarp and the soft, uncontracted 

 seed of the ripe fruit being taken as 100. The data have been selected with the object 

 of contrasting the behaviour of different types of fruits. They are all to be obtained by 

 constructing the drying regime for each fruit from the elements given in the last table 

 of this chapter ; but the shrinkage of the seeds is also given in Chapter IX.) 



