August 9, 1889.] 



SCIENCR 



93 



11. The soaking of seeds does not appear to influence tlie total 

 amount of sprouting. 



12. The results of soaking appear to vary in different species. 



13. The character of soil in which the test is made may influence 

 the results, both in rapidity and per cent of sprouting. 



14. Light has great influence upon the sprouting of the seeds of 

 some species. 



15. When light has any influence, it retards or wholly prevents 

 sprouting. 



16. The effects of light upon sprouting are different in different 

 species. 



17. The weight of the seed is often a tolerably accurate measure 

 of its viability, as determined both by rapidity and per cent of 

 sprouting. 



i8. As a rule, heavy seeds germinate better than light ones of 

 the same sample. 



19. Seeds of different species may vary in sprouting in reference 

 to weight. 



20. The color of the seed in some cases is a tolerably accurate 

 measure of rapidity and per cent of sprouting. 



21. When there is any variation in viability in reference to color, 

 it is usually found that the stronger sproutings occur in the darker- 

 colored seeds. 



22. The relative values of seeds of different colors vary with each 

 species, or sometimes with each sample. 



23. The latitude in which seeds are grown may determine their 

 behavior in germination. 



24. Northern-grown corn appears to germinate quicker than 



In the ordinary farmer's garden, seed-testing is perhaps of little 

 or no value; but to the market- gardener, who plants considerable 

 areas to special crops, and to the seedsman, it is highly profitable. 

 It is possible that in some cases the character of the crop can be 

 prognosticated with some degree of certainty from behavior of 

 plants in germination, wholly aside from percentages of sprouting. 

 The studies of experts in this country and Germany indicate, that, 

 when accurate information is desired as to the value of seeds, the 

 seed-test should present at least the following data : name of va- 

 riety, where grown, when grown, how kept, per cent by weight of 

 foreign matter, per cent by weight of apparently good seeds, nature 

 of foreign material, weight of seeds, manner of testing, number 

 tested, average and extreme temperatures during trial, first germi- 

 nations in hours, last germinations in hours, per cent by number 

 germinated, per cent unsprouted but sound at end of trial, date of 

 test, estimate of agricultural value. 



INHERITANCE OF INJURIES. 



Professor A. Weismann of Freiburg, Germany, has made 

 some experiments on mutilation. On Oct. 17, 1887, he had the tails 

 removed from seven female and five male white mice. On Nov. 

 16 the first brood appeared. These and all subsequent broods 

 were removed from the cage. Up to Dec. 17, 1888, 333 young 

 were born, and in none of them was there any sign of the mutila- 

 tion being inherited. In cage 2, fifteen young, of Dec. 2 1887,- 

 were placed, their tails having been removed. These, up to Dec. 

 17, 1888, produced 233 young, all with normal tails. In cage 3 



southern-grown corn. It is to be expected, from our knowledge of 

 the variation of plants in reference to latitude, that seeds of most 

 species will give similar results. 



25. Variation in results of seed-tests may be due to the appa- 

 ratus in which test is made. 



26. Those apparatus in which the seeds are exposed to light are 

 to be distrusted. 



27. Those apparatus which afford no protection to the seeds 

 other than a simple layer of cloth, paper, board, or simflar cover, 

 are usually unsafe, from the fact that they allow of too great ex- 

 tremes in amounts of moisture. 



28. The so-called Geneva tester appears to give better results of 

 sprouting than tests made in soil, probably from the fact that 

 moisture and temperature are less variable than in the soil-tests. 



29. In order to study germination to its completion, tests must 

 be made in soil. 



30. Tests made indoors are more reliable than those made in 

 the field. 



II. Results commonly vary between tests made under appar- 

 ently identical conditions, even with selected seeds : therefore 

 one test cannot be accepted as a true measure of any sample of 

 seeds. 



III. The results of actual ordinary planting in the field cannot 

 ■be considered a true measure of the viability or value of any sam- 

 ple. 



IV. Rapidity of sproutings, unless under identical conditions, is 

 not a true measure of vitality or vigor of seeds. 



V. There appears to be no pernicious adulteration of garden- 

 seeds in this country, and, as a rule, there are no hurtful impuri- 

 ties. 



fourteen young of the second generation, with tails removed, were 

 placed ; and up to Dec. 17, 1888, they produced 141 young, all 

 quite normal. The experiment was carried, with a negative result, 

 down through five generations of mutilated animals. The length 

 of tail of new-born mice varies from 10.5 millimetres to 12 milli- 

 metres. In the series of experiments, 849 young were produced 

 by mutilated progenitors, and in no case was a mouse produced 

 with its tail less than 10.5 millimetres. The author points out, 

 that, while it might be said that experiments through a far greater 

 number of generations were needed, the so-called cases of inheri- 

 tance of mutilation all imply that the mutilation is impressed on 

 the immediately following generations. A mother breaks her 

 finger, and her daughter has the joint of the corresponding finger 

 imperfect. A cow has her horn torn off, and in due course gives 

 birth to a one-horned calf. Moreover, there are many cases of 

 mutilations which have been made for hundreds of years without 

 result. For instance, Settegast shows that all the crows but the 

 rook have bristly feathers on their beaks. Rooks, too, have these 

 feathers while nestlings ; but later on they lose them by perpetu- 

 ally pushing the beak into the ground in search of food. There 

 are a great many cases which at first sight appear to prove the 

 inheritance of injuries. As an example of how easy it is to be 

 deceived, Weismann relates that a friend had a vertical scar (with 

 comb-like stride) on the left ear, the result of a sword-wound. On 

 the left ear of this gentleman's daughter was a curiously similar 

 marking. But it was ultimately noticed that on the right ear of 

 the father was an appearance precisely similar to that on the left 

 ear of the daughter. On closer examination of the father's left ear, 

 there was seen under the scar a linear streak, from which the 

 striae ran, forming a comb-like structure. It was this, doubtless a 



