A FIRST STUDY OF THE EELATIOXSHIP BETWEEN 

 THE WEIGHT OF THE BEAN SEED, PHASEOLUS 

 VULGARIS, AND THE TBIE REQUIRED FOR ITS 

 GERMINATION 



J. ARTHUR HARRIS 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C: 



I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 



The possibility of the existence of a relationship between the 

 weight of the seed and the time required for its germination 

 was suggested by the evidence of a differential mortality with 

 respect to seed weight brought to light in the analysis of the 

 records of field experiments for a number of varieties of garden 

 beans.' A second stud}' was, therefore, so planned as to fur- 

 nish both a further test of the existence of a differential mor- 

 tality and a series of approximate determinations of the degree 

 of association between the weight of the seed and the time 

 required for its germination. The principal data bearing on 

 selective mortahty have already been published. - 



This contribution is limited to a setting forth of the bare 

 facts concerning the weight and time relationship. The expla- 

 nation of the observed phenomena in more general physical and 

 chemical tenns, and their orientation with respect to other work 

 in germination seems premature — especially in \'iew of more 

 refined experiments already under way. 



In the second paper on differential mortality, the essentials of 

 the experiments were outlined. Thus it is unnecessary to go 

 into these matters in any considerable detail here. It is desir- 



* Harris, J. Arthur, On differential mortalitj- with respect to seed weight occur- 

 ring in field cultures of Phoscolus vulgaris. Amer. Xat. 46: 512-525. 1912. 



^ Harris, J. Arthur, Supplementary studies on the differential mortality with 

 respect to seed weight in the germination of garden beans. Amer. Xat. (in 

 press) . 



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THE PLANT WORLD, VOL. 16, xo. 10, October, 1913 



