Parallel Tests of Seeds by Germination and by 
Electrical Response. 
(Preliminary Experiments.) 
BY 
MARY T. FRASER, B.Sc. 
Introduction. 
I N previous work it has been shown by Professor A. D. Waller 1 that 
there is a definite electrical response in the case of living seeds, which is no 
longer given when the seed is dead. The present experiments were under- 
taken with the view of further developing this electrical test, in regard to its 
possible commercial application. When the necessary experimental pro- 
cedure has been settled, and the conditions studied more fully, the electrical 
response should furnish a more rapid and definite indication of the vitality 
of a set of seeds than the ordinary germination method. It would supply 
the practical man’s demand for a trustworthy answer c while you wait \ 
Method of Experiments. 
(i) Germination . — Germination was allowed to proceed in the usual 
way, the grains being placed between filter-paper moistened with a known 
quantity of distilled water, or with various food solutions, in suitable dishes 
and kept for a certain time (24 to 48 hours) at a known temperature. The 
electrical response was then recorded. Those having germinated at the end 
of the time were counted, and the percentage of the whole calculated. The 
average of a number of counts was taken as the germination value . 
100 grains were found to be a convenient number to use, and the total 
germination value was recorded at the end of 6 to 10 days. 
In these experiments the grains used were all of one species— Hordeum 
vulgare , the common barley — on account of the greater ease of manipulation 
of the larger grain. The observations would necessarily be extended to 
other seeds, where special devices might have to be adopted on account of 
small size, &c. 
1 Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. lxviii, 1901, p. 79. 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XXX. No. CXVII. January, 1916.] 
