[ 39 ] 
III. On the Changes in the Proteids in the Seed which accompany Germination. 
By J. 11. Green, B. Sc. ,B. A., Demonstrator of Physiology in the University of Cambridge. 
Communicated by Professor M. Foster, Sec. R.S. 
Received November 25,—Read December 16, 1886. 
A curious and characteristic feature of the life-history of the higher forms of plants 
is the long resting period which takes place in the seed, following the reproductive 
act, after a certain amount of development. Fertilisation of the female element is 
succeeded by a period of activity, during which great changes in the oosphere take 
place, many new cells are formed, and the new individual becomes recognisable. But 
then comes a remarkable alteration ; the development for a time is arrested, no new cells 
are produced, but those already formed, which constitute chiefly the first leaves or coty¬ 
ledons of the new plant, become filled with nutrient materials, forming reserves upon 
which, after the resting period, the young plant will subsist, and which will enable it 
to resume its growth. Or it may be that the nutrient material may be accumulated 
in cells immediately surrounding the young embryo, cells which form the so-called 
endosperm and which are not actually part of it. A curious feature this, not repre¬ 
sented exactly by anything in the cycle of animal life, though perhaps the condition 
of the egg which is deposited by the parent and quickened later into active life 
approaches somewhat to it. This differs greatly, however, in the length of the quies¬ 
cent period, which in the seed may be almost indefinitely prolonged. What changes, 
if any, take place in the cells during this period is not known and cannot well be 
ascertained. At the end of this time changes do take place, and the arrested develop¬ 
ment is resumed. That the condition of things inside the seed is not exactly 
alike always, seems pointed to by the fact that seeds of the same plant do not 
germinate at all times with equal readiness, though exposed to the same favourable 
conditions. During this period, long or short as it may be, and its length varies 
extremely, the different bodies occupying the interior of the cells of the cotyledons or 
the endosperm maintain their character apparently unchanged, or, if changed at all, 
the nature of the change is such as not to be recognisable by microscopic examination 
or by chemical analysis, only being marked by greater or less resistance to the setting¬ 
up of the manifest changes which are known as the process of germination. 
The process of deposition of the several reserve products in the cells of the seed has 
been watched by many observers, and the details of the storage have been examined 
MDCCCLXXXVII.—B. 7.4.87 
