CHAPTER XV 



The relation 

 between the 

 number of 

 seeds and the 

 weight of a 

 fruit, 



(a) in the 

 living fruit. 



THE RELATION BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF SEEDS AND THE 

 WEIGHT AND SIZE OF THE FRUIT 



THE relations between the number and weight of the seeds 

 on the one hand and the total weight of the fruit and the 

 proportional weight of the pericarp on the other offer an 

 interesting study. Although we shall at first treat the subject 

 on its own ground, it will soon be perceived that in so doing 

 we are ignoring important determining influences. Foremost 

 among such influences stands that connected with the abortion 

 of ovules before and after fertilisation, this distinction in time 

 with regard to fertilisation being pregnant with results as regards 

 the future of the fruit. But the subject of the failure of ovules 

 and seeds is dealt with in Chapter XVI., and here it will be 

 only incidentally noticed as we proceed with the discussion. 



The living fruit, that is to say, the green, moist, full-grown 

 fruit with large, soft, uncontracted seeds, first claims our 

 attention. This is but natural, and indeed the main interest 

 of the withered or air-dried fruit should chiefly lie in its ability 

 to aid us in our studies of the living fruit. Although the 

 data below tabulated are scanty, their acquisition has often 

 involved a good deal of labour, and a large amount of material 

 had usually to be gone over to get a few results. It is necessary, 

 for instance, to select only full-grown moist fruits that show no 

 signs of drying ; but of these a large number have frequently 

 to be rejected on account of defective seed-development, or 

 of a lack of uniformity in the size of the seeds. 



33 



