136 



BOTANICAL GAZETTE 



[FEBRUARY 



about the vascular tissue when this method is used. No oxidase 

 could be detected by the ordinary qualitative chromogenic methods 

 in either the living or desiccated seeds. 



Chemical analysis 



m 



In the following analysis seeds were collected from the same 

 tree in order to eliminate differences due to individual variation. 



made 



Fresh seeds were 



immediately placed in 95 per cent redistilled alcohol, enough being 

 added to make the final volume of alcohol 80 per cent. One-half 



gram 



calcium 



acid hydrolysis. In the final calculation the 

 was considered as being in the insoluble fraction. In general the 

 method of extraction and analysis is that outlined by Koch (16), 

 but a few modifications were found necessary. 



TABLE III 



Fraction 



Fresh seeds 



Desiccated seeds 



Percentage F 3 of total dry weight . . 



a p ti tt a a 



u p a a M a 



79.05 

 15-8 

 515 



65.56 



3031 



413 



The tissue was ground, and then extracted with hot 95 per cent 

 alcohol for four hours, followed by i-hour ether extraction. The 

 alcohol-ether insoluble material was then heated in water for 



one hour on the steam bath. The water was evaporated down, 

 alcohol again added, and returned to extraction cups for a 24-hour 

 alcohol extraction and i-hour ether extraction. The alcohol and 

 ether extracts were combined, evaporated to dryness, and then 

 extracted with anhydrous ether. This ether extract is known as 

 F x ; the residue from the ether extract is F 2 ; the alcohol-ether 

 insoluble material is F 3 . 

 5 days, then cooled and weighed. 



The 191 7 seeds were desiccated in the laboratory. No attempt 

 was made to maintain a constant temperature. The seeds failed 

 to germinate after 18 days, when the water content had dropped 

 to approximately 34 per cent. The desiccated seeds were treated 

 in the same manner as the fresh seeds. Table III shows the 



F 3 was dried in the oven at 103 C for 



