III. 
LABORATORY NOTES. 
I. GERMINATION OF PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA. 
(Presented to the Scientific Association, October 29th, 1889.) 
At one of the meetings of the Scientific Association, early in 
April, some members of the society asked how the date seed (Phoenix 
Dactylifera), germinated; whether the shoot came from out the little 
groove in the seed, from either end or from the back, and if it was 
always uniform or depended on the position of the seed. 
During the informal discussion which followed several, opinions 
were offered, but, as no one seemed positive about the matter, a com- 
mittee was formed to study into the subject and report at some future 
meeting. I was chairman of the committee, and failing to find any 
satisfaction from numerous books consulted, determined to find the de- 
sired information by means of a series of practical experiments. 
In a box of loose soil composed of sand, loam and leaf mold, I 
planted six well developed, healthy date seeds. They were planted in 
different depths of earth, ranging from 4 inches to inches from the 
surface of the box, and were each in a different position — one vertical, 
one horizontal, one inclined to the right and one inclined to the left 
and one each with the groove up and down, as seen in Plate A, 
I- • 
The seeds were planted the first week in June, were kept in the 
sun as much as possible and watered with hot water. The loth of 
August signs of life began to show themselves. By the last of the 
