904 _ The American Naturalist. [ October, 
DEVIATION IN DEVELOPMENT DUE TO THE USE 
OF UNRIPE SEEDS. 
j By J. C. ARTHUR. 
(Continued from page 815.) 
Such deviations as have been mentioned are readily seen, 
and are more or less to be anticipated. But what shall we say 
about the final recovery of such plants? Even if plants are 
feeble while young, will they not eventually become firmly es- 
tablished and outgrow all traces of early weakness? I think 
we would say a priori, that such would doubtless be the case- 
It looks reasonable; and yet from both experimental and the- 
oretical data it can be shown that rarely, and only by accident, 
does the entire restoration of the vigor of the plant under such 
circumstances take place. I am aware that the majority of 
observers and writers have held the contrary view, and pes 
Cohn in his admirable treatise came to the conelusion that “i 
general plants raised from unripe seed are not weaker ne 
those from ripe seed.” It is undoubtedly true, that as the 
plants grow, the differences, which were at first readily detected 
by the eye, largely or quite disappear. Eventually it is nec- 
essary to resort to careful weighing and measuring to bring 
out the actual facts. This does not mean that the differences 
are slight and immaterial, but only that the eye cannot detect 
small variations distributed throughout large objects having 
irregular surfaces, baton? 3 in the aggregate they may be con- 
siderable. 
In the experiment with tomato plants from seed taken from 
green, half-ripe, and fully ripe fruit, already referred to, (man- 
uscript record No. 82), no essential difference could be detected 
between the plants after they came into bearing. But weigh- 
ing exposed the fact that the ripe fruit of the plants from green 
seed averaged ten per cent lighter than those from ripe seed 
(see table V). 
