BRIEFER ARTICLES 
SIMPLE DEVICE FOR WEIGHING SEEDS 
(WITH ONE FIGURE) 
In biological work it is often necessary to determine the weight of 
individual seeds. The use of the usual analytical balance is too slow 
if large quantities are to be weighed, and the spiral spring balances are 
often not delicate enough to weigh small seeds. 
A glass scalé can be made in a short time which is accurate and 
permits rapid work. A piece of glass tubing is heated over a Bunsen 
burner and drawn into a long rod. The rod should be about 1 Or 1.5 
—_— 
Fic. tr 
mm. thick and 50 cm. long for weighing seeds of corn or beans. The tip 
of the rod should be bent and a paper tray glued on. A bristle or 
piece of fine wire attached to the tray serves as a pointer. The base of 
the rod is inserted in a hole bored in the upright base board. The scale 
is graduated by using the weights for the analytical balance (fig. 1). 
The writer has two scales on the same stand, one for beans and corn 
which is accurate to one centigram, and one for wheat and oats which is 
fairly accurate to one miligram 
If the forefinger of the left hand i is placed under the tray while placing 
the grains on with a pair of forceps the pointer will come to rest almost 
immediately. With a little practice 300-400 seeds can be weighed per 
hour. Constant use for several weeks at a time does not seem to cause 
any loss in elasticity of the glass rod, but the scale should be checked 
occasionally—Kart Sax, Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, 
Orono, Maine. 
399] [Botanical Gazette, vol. 71 
