PERMEABILITY AND CLASSIFICATION loi 



normally contracted, they will often prove to have lost their 

 impermeability. 



I will take the case of the seeds of desalpinia Sappan, Caesalpinia 

 gathered in the Botanic Gardens of Grenada, The seeds on ^*PP*"- 

 the ground that had fallen naturally from the tree were rather 

 darker in colour and drier on section than those obtained 

 from the dry but still closed pods on the tree, though the 

 last might have been taken for normal seeds, and indeed were 

 just as capable of reproducing the plant. However, on 

 keeping a number of the seeds of both kinds under observa- 

 tion for ten days, I found that those from the closed pods 

 were slowly losing weight. This led to a detailed comparison 

 of them with the seeds from the ground, the results of which 

 are tabulated below and stated in percentages. 



Comparison of the Seeds of C^salpinia Sappan on the 

 Ground and on the Plant. 



Note. —The whole seed (coats and kernel) is used in the absorption experiments. 



Thus we get here the same indications as we obtained 

 in the instance of Entada polystachya, there being from the 

 gardener's standpoint two sets of seeds, though in nature 



