NOTES, 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFECT OF DESICCATION OF 
ALBUMIN UPON ITS COAGULABILITY. By Prof. J. Bretland 
Farmer, M.A., F.R.S. 1 —It has been known for some time that it is 
possible, under certain circumstances, to expose seeds to the influence 
of high temperatures without thereby necessarily destroying their power 
to germinate. Some experiments in this direction were conducted at 
the Royal Gardens, Kew, some years ago by Dr. Morris, but the results, 
although of much interest, do not appear to have been published. 
However, the seeds were exposed to the action of boiling water, and 
even to a higher temperature in an oven, without losing their ability to 
germinate when the ordeal was over. 
It has been noticed, in heating seeds in water, that if the seed-coat 
through any cause becomes ruptured, or if it softens and swells, the 
seeds which are thus affected are incapable of manifesting any further 
evidence of vitality. It appears to me that a fair inference to be 
drawn from these facts is that the admission of water to the living 
cells is a potent factor in bringing about their death. 
Jodin 2 has recently communicated some facts which point to the 
same conclusion. He exposed seeds of pea and cress to a tempera¬ 
ture of 98° C., and found that unless great care had been previously 
exercised to ensure the dryness of the seeds, they were all killed. 
When they had been previously dried he succeeded in subsequently 
germinating 30 per cent, of the peas and 60 per cent, of the cress 
seeds. Perhaps the disproportion in favour of the latter may, at least 
in part, be ascribed to their small size, and consequently to the less 
difficulty in sufficiently drying the seeds. 
1 From the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Vol. lxvi, with a postscript. 
2 Comptes rendus, 1899. 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XIV, No. LIV. June, igoo.] 
Y 
