40 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JANUARY 
6 days and then left in the germinator 95 days at 25°C. Seeds 
similarly treated, except that they were exposed only 2 days, gave 
less marked catalase activity. The point to be noted in table VI 
is the increased activity which was given by seeds treated with the 
larger amounts of ether. Of added interest is the fact that there 
TABLE V 
CATALASE ACTIVITY OF SEEDS TREATED 95 DAYS WITH HgCl, SOLUTIONS AND 
PERCENTAGE OF GERMINATION AFTER 6 MONTHS 
OXYGEN IN CC. LIBERATED DURING 
CONCENTRATION OF HgCl: usEp 
I min 5 min Io min. 
PR eet a 0.5 2.3 2.9 
Log os epee SCL ees 1.6 3.0 2.4 
DP AG08 oe ence eas 1.3 it 3.9 
OM a a ee ah g.% 3.5 4.0 
MSTI6C6 ee ia 3.0 4.0 4.6 
OE cis ompelbis oe Cs a: O's 4.5 5.0 
ae Pte eee ba 3.2 5.0 5.9 
OP reeaie et peo cm a 2.9 5-5 6:2 
Water he Oe 2.8 s.6 6.0 
TABLE VI 
EFFECT OF ETHER ON CATALASE ACTIVITY OF JUNIPER SEEDS KEPT AT 25°C. 
AMOUNT OF ETHER PER 9 LITERS OXYGEN IN CC. LIBERATED DURING 
OF AIR 
I min. 5 min. ro min. 
Re CE ee ere 29 6.0 6.1 
CP = aeRO Aas eae 405 7.8 8.4 
SOG i ee, 4.8 10.0 10.9 
- : Se eee eo te ine Re 5.0 10.5 II.90 
G8 06) eri 5.6 II.0 115 
Without ether (check)...... 2.8 &.5 6.0 
was no germination. It is suggested, therefore, that one may have 
an enormous increase of catalase activity without a corresponding 
after-ripening of the dormant embryo. 
To study the effect of oxygen, seeds were sterilized and exposed 
to air containing the following percentages of oxygen. Table VII 
gives the catalase activity for seeds at the end of 45 days. With 
the higher percentage of oxygen there was an increase of catalase 
