APPENDIX 475 



where the mould had attacked the cuticle of the soft immature seeds 

 so slightly that at first it was overlooked. They went through the 

 usual shrinking process, as it seemed, normally ; and it was not until 

 after about six weeks that the exceptional loss of weight led me to 

 examine them more carefully, when I found their surfaces dotted with 

 a number of light-coloured small spots where the cuticle was lacking. 

 The seeds continued to decrease in weight for eighteen months, when 

 they were only alsout 25 per cent, of their original unripe weight, instead 

 of about 40 per cent., which is the normal shrinking ratio. After this 

 their weight became stable, varying only i or i J per cent, in response 

 to the changes in the hygrometric state of the air. On being cut open 

 six months later, the kernels proved to be hard and much shrunken ; 

 but there was no discoloration. 



As is shown in the tabulated results below under A and C, it is the 

 kernel of the mould-infested seed that is chiefly affected by the excessive 

 shrinkage. In the normal resting seed the kernel makes up about 

 61 per cent, of the seed ; whilst in the seed attacked by the fungus 



Table showing the Effects of Mould on the Soft Unripe 

 OR Pre-resting Seeds of Entada scandens. 



Explanation. — This table is intended to display a continuous record for three seeds 

 each beginning with the pre-resting state, the normal shrinkage being exhibited only by 

 the first. A represents an average healthy seed, whilst B and C represent mould- 

 infested seeds, the results being obtained from observations on nine diseased seeds. 

 The unripe weight ranged from 900 to 1150 grains, but all results are calculated for a 

 seed of 1000 grains. By comparing A and C it will be seen that the loss of weight in 

 the diseased seed was experienced almost entirely by the kernel, which at the end of the 

 experiment was much shrunken, hard and flexible rather than brittle, but otherwise 

 normal in appearance. 



