THE EFFECT OF ETHER UPON THE GERMINATION 
OF SEEDS AND SPORES. 
C. O, TOWNSEND. 
In 1896-7, while carrying on a series of experiments for the 
purpose of determining the influence of injury upon growth, the 
writer found that an atmosphere of ether caused. considerable 
variation in the rate of growth of seedlings. The thought pre- 
sented itself that it would be of interest and of importance to 
determine the influence of an atmosphere of ether upon the ger- 
mination of seeds and spores. Accordingly, the following 
experiments were undertaken and carried on during the winter 
of 1897-8 in the laboratory of Barnard College. Seeds for the 
purpose were soaked in pure water for twenty-four hours in 
ordinary room temperature, and then transferred to air-tight 
damp chambers, which contained respectively 1, 2.5, 5, and 10” 
of ether dissolved in 100° of water. The damp chambers con- 
sisted of bell jars, having a capacity of about four liters each, 
the sides of which were lined with blotting paper saturated with 
water. In each series of experiments one chamber contained 
atmospheric air for control. The seeds used were those of Zea 
Mais, A vena sativa, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Cucurbita Pepo. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH SEEDS. 
In comparing the normal rate of germination with the ger- 
mination of seeds in an atmosphere of 1° of ether, it was found 
that germination was somewhat accelerated by the ether. The 
germination in the ether atmosphere began twelve to sixteen 
hours earlier than in the ether-free atmosphere. At the end of 
the following five days, however, the growth of the seedlings in 
the ether-free atmosphere exceeded the growth of the seedlings 
in the atmosphere containing 1° of ether, so that the difference 
in the length of roots of corn varied in the ratio of 35 to 20 in 
*Read before Section G, A. A. A. S., Boston, 1898. 
458 [JUNE 
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