102 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [august 



with the exception of two of his duplicate samples, they were all of 

 the harvest of 1902. He mixed his seeds, in definite numbers, with 

 dry clay soil in ordinary flower pots, and buried these in December 

 1902, to different depths, carefully covering each pot with an 

 earthenware saucer to prevent the loss of seed and other accidents. 

 The majority of the grains of wheat buried 6-8 inches and 36-42 

 inches had germinated and then decayed, while those at the medium 

 depth of 18-22 inches were merely decayed, without indications of 

 germination, when the pots were taken up in November 1903, 



* 



eleven months after burial. Approximately all the barley at these 

 three depths had germinated and afterward decayed during the 

 same lapse of time. The majority of the commonly cultivated 

 plants of field and garden could not withstand one year of burial, 

 under the conditions which prevail in the soil outside of Washing- 

 ton, D.C. Many weed seeds, however, showed little deterioration 

 within this length of time. 



In 1907 Becquerel 3 reported the results of his examination into 

 the germinating power of about 500 species of seeds, belonging to 

 30 of the more important families of the monocotyledons and dicoty- 

 ledons, and varying in age from 25 to 135 years. These seeds 

 came from the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He used 10 

 seeds of each species, breaking off parts of the integuments of those 

 which seemed impermeable, and, after washing them carefully in 

 distilled water, placed them on damp cotton in crystallizing dishes 

 and kept them at a temperature of 28 C. for more than a month. 

 He obtained germinations in 50 species, all of which were included 

 in four families, namely, the Leguminosae, Nelumbiaceae, Labiatae, 



Malvaceae 



ermma 



bica psularis , one of the Leguminosae, which dated from 

 ere therefore more than 8s vears old at the time of the 



experiment. 

 In 1008 



similar 



over 1000 species of seeds which 



3 Becquerel, P., 

 IX. s^igs^ 1 *- 1907. 



Melbourne, Australia. They had been sent 



dies sur la vie latente des graines. Ann. Sci. Xat. Bot. 



1908. 



♦Ewart, A. J., On the longevity of seeds. Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria 21:1-210 



