280 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [OCTOBER 
absorbed after 24 hours 39 per cent. of dry weight, after 48 hours 70 
per cent. Form 6 absorbed after 24 hours 4 per cent., after 48 
hours 5 per cent., after 120 hours 6.5 per cent., and after 174 
hours 9.5 per cent. After 174 hours soaking, 2 per cent. of form 
b had swollen up and germinated. At 23° with seed coats broken, 
as shown in Table IX, form b germinates much more readily than 
form a with seed coats intact, and somewhat more readily than form 
a with seed coats broken. It is evident from these tests that the 
embryo of form } is more vigorous than the embryos of form 4. 
It should be pointed out that the embryo of form 6 has an ideal 
storage condition, The water-excluding seed coat keeps it dry as 
it lies buried in the ground with the temperature relatively low. 
With the partial disintegration of the coat comes the admission of 
water and the growth of the embryo. The length of the delay in 
germination thus secured will vary greatly with water and tempera- 
ture conditions, and with the different individuals of form 6. It is 
probable that it will amount to many years in some cases. 
In Axyris, as in the cocklebur, the same plant bears two sorts of 
seeds, One sort grows rapidly in nature and the other only after 
a considerable delay. Unlike the cocklebur, the seeds are not paired, 
and the delay is secured by the seed coat shutting out water rather 
than oxygen. 
3. ABUTILON AVICENNAE AND CHENOPODIUM ALBUM. 
Agriculturists claim that the seeds of Abutilon Avicennae lie in 
meadows and pastures for twenty years without growing, but upon 
breaking the soil grow in great abundance. When these seeds are 
soaked in water for forty-eight hours about 13 per cent. swell up, 
while the embryos of 87 per cent. remain extremely dry and can be 
pulverized. After weeks of soaking only a small per cent. additional 
will swell, a few at a time. For the relative per cent. of germination 
of these seeds with seed coats intact and seed coats broken see Table 
IX. 
In Ci heno podium album, mentioned in the NoBBE-HANLEIN table, 
about 16 per cent. of a crop of seeds swell up after twenty-four hours 
soaking. By continual soaking the remaining seeds gradually swell 
a few at a time, but much more readily than is the case with Abutilon. 
