402 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
germination, M. Gris has put on record within the last few 
years some interesting observations, ^cd from which it appears 
that the starch grains are dissolved in various ways, according 
perhaps to the form of the grain ; thus, when the starch grains 
are simple in character, they are dissolved irregularly, the 
solvent agent, whatever it may be, attacks them locally, or 
with greater intensity at one place than at another. On the 
other hand, grains that are compound or aggregate in character 
diminish in bulk gradually over the whole surface, so that the 
mass melts away insensibly. 
There is still much to be learnt as to the exciting cause of 
these phenomena, though much has been ascertained (in addi- 
tion to what has before been alluded to) both as to what does 
and what does not facilitate germination. It was natural, for 
instance, to suppose that germination would be stimulated by 
electricity; this, however, does not prove to be the case. 
With reference to the action of light, the statements of different 
experimenters are at variance one with another, though the 
balance of evidence seems to be in favour of the opinion ex- 
pressed by Mr. Hunt, that the blue rays promote germination, 
while the yellow light-giving rays impede it. It too often 
happens with regard to these and similar experiments, that no 
fair comparison can be made, no just inference drawn, be- 
cause observers have not made use of the seeds of the same 
plant, or if of the same plant not in the same condition. It is 
necessary to bear this in mind, as it is well known to botanists, 
that the varying structure of the seed and the embryo are co- 
existent with variations in the process of germination. Some 
seeds, for instance, are capable of germination, and in effect do 
germinate, while still immature ; thus wheat has been observed 
to grow while yet the albumen is milky. Again, an embryo 
plant that derives its nourishment, in the first instance, from 
the albumen with which it is encircled, shows a greater propor- 
tionate tendency to the development of leaves than of flowers, 
than does an embryo plant which has no such store of nutri- 
ment to draw upon. The perisperm, or albumen, thus acts in 
the same way as a too fertile soil would do — encourages the 
tendency to form leaves, rather than flowers. These are facts 
which cultivators should bear in mind, as they are of no little 
practical importance. In the same way it is more than probable 
that the diversities in the length of time with which a seed will 
conserve its vitality without germination, the temperature re- 
quired for exciting that process, and the length of time occupied 
in its accomplishment, are all more or less dependent on the 
structure of the seed. But we must not follow these details 
further ; our object has been to trace the history of the seed in 
a general way from its origin to its consummation in the deve- 
