348 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
In the stomach of a bird that had been dead at least a week, 
a germinating fruit was found.? 
Early germination of the fruits may also be procured by 
baring with a knife the stones of fruits gathered from the 
plant. Of drupes thus treated, 40 per cent. germinated in 
the first year. The same end can be attained usually by 
immersion in sea-water. Fruits that floated forty and a 
hundred days in sea-water germinated in half the cases 
during the first year. . 
The drupes of Sparganium ramosum also withstand ice 
well. In the prolonged experiments, they germinated after 
being encased in ice during successive winters for continuous 
periods ranging from a week to seventeen days. Fruits 
that had been dried for three or four months subsequently 
germinated, 
The drupes of Sparganium simplex exhibit little or no 
tendency to germinate in water during the first year, and 
may defer the process for years. Here, as with S. ramoswm, 
aquatic fowl are very effective agents in directly promoting 
germination. Four out of thirteen wild ducks” examined by 
me contained in their stomachs 129 Sparganiwm “stones,” 
evidently belonging to this species. After being kept a few 
weeks, fifteen were placed in water, and five of them germi- 
nated within a fortnight. As in the case of S. ramoswm, sea- 
water immersion favours early germination, and the drupes 
are not injured either by being dried for three months or by - 
being inclosed in ice for a fortnight. 
The mature seeds of Calla palustris float in fresh-water 
until they germinate, and, in fact, never sink. They are able 
to put off the germinating process to the second year; or, in 
other words, seeds matured in the summer of 1893, and at 
once placed in water, would in some cases not germinate until 
the spring of 1895, when they would be still afloat. The 
capacity of postponing the process is influenced by various 
circumstances. Inclosure in ice favours early germination, 
as is exemplified in the Table. When never inclosed in ice 
1 These facts were given in a paper by the author in Science Gossip, 
September 1894, 
2 Ibid. 
