5 G 
MR. J. R. GREEN ON THE CHANGES IN THE PROTEIDS 
further advanced contained more of the latter, and asparagin was also present, though 
in small amount. The radicles showed the absence of peptone. With metatungstic 
acid and acetic acid there was hardly any opalescence. When the extract of the 
ground-up radicles was concentrated and left in an evaporating dish, large rhombic 
crystals of asparagin separated out in considerable quantity. These results confirm, 
then, those arrived at by acting on the proteicls in the laboratory. The changes in 
germination following the development of the ferment appear to be— 
1. The formation successively of acid-albumin or parapeptone, peptone, and crystal¬ 
line amides. 
2. The travelling of the latter bodies to the points where plastic material is 
required. 
It appears certain that the nitrogenous crystalline bodies are not formed at first, 
but that at least two intermediate bodies precede them. Also that the peptone 
formed is but a stage in this production, and does not leave the seat of its formation. 
Hence peptone is not the form in which plastic nitrogenous material travels in the 
seedling. 
The histological changes accompanying these chemical ones are interesting. In the 
resting seed the proteid matter is present in the form of aleurone grains, which are 
small round bodies embedded in a network of protoplasm. Them outlines are sharp, 
and they occupy about half the whole space of the cell. In a seed in which germina¬ 
tion has just commenced the grains are found to have become larger, probably from 
taking up water, and the protoplasmic network is consequently more compressed. A 
later stage shows the grains to have a much less distinct outline, though they retain 
their almost spherical shape. They are now studded with sparse granules, and 
appear to be dissolving from within outwards. When the radicle has attained a 
length of about 1 '5 inch the disintegration of the grains is very marked, and the 
protoplasm contains empty spaces in which they formerly lay. In the actively 
growing seed, the radicle being 2 to 3 inches long, there is little left except the mesh- 
work of protoplasm which, now relieved from tension, is seen to be very loose, and to 
contain large vacuoles. 
Amylolytic Ferments. 
The manner in which the stored-up cellulose is made use of in the plant has not 
been hitherto shown. Beyond the fact that in some seeds there is a large accumula¬ 
tion of it, and that then no starch appears in the reserve materials, but little is 
known. Judging from analogy with both starch and proteids, there seems some 
likelihood of the action being a ferment action. 
Some seeds of the Date (Phrnnix dactylifera) were germinated for me by Mr. Lynch 
at the Botanical Gardens, Cambridge. When the young plants had attained a height 
of about six inches they were removed, and the now partially softened seed submitted 
