462 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JUNE 
germinate and in regard to the appearance of mold and bacteria 
when 15% of ether were used. 3 
In order to free the seeds from germs and spores of fungi, 
they were soaked several hours in 0.5 per cent. solution of cop- 
per sulfate. A number of seeds were then placed in an ether- 
free atmosphere, and others in a damp chamber contain- 
ing 10° of ether. More than so per cent. of the grains 
of corn that were placed in the ether-free atmosphere 
germinated in from three to five days, which was double 
the time required for the germination of similar seeds when 
soaked in pure water only, Contrary to the preceding experi- 
ments, the shoots or leaves appeared first, and attained, in most 
cases, a length of 5 before the roots appeared, while in the 
few seedlings in which the latter did appear, they did not ex- 
ceed 1™ in length. The oat grains were still more strongly 
affected by the copper. sulfate, and did not begin to germinate 
until ten days after they were placed in the damp chamber. When 
the leaves had attained a length of from 2 to 3™ no roots what- 
ever had appeared, while if copper sulfate was not used, the roots 
appeared first, as in the case of the corn, and attained the 
greater length. On comparing the behavior of these seeds with 
those that had been placed in an atmosphere of ether after soak- 
ing in copper sulfate, it was found that at the end of four days 
several grains of corn had begun to germinate, and that none of 
the seeds remained free from fungi. From the fact that none of 
the seeds soaked in pure water and transferred to an atmosphere 
containing 10° of ether germinated, it would seem that the 
copper sulfate had a tendency to neutralize the influence of the 
ether. From lack of time, however, experiments were not Car- — 
ried further in this direction. | 
EXPERIMENTS WITH SPORES. 
The peculiar behavior of the fungi, which often appeared on 
the seeds in spite of all precautions, called for systematic inves- 
tigation of the action of ether upon these organisms. | Accord- 
ingly, several series of experiments were carried through, in 
