A Physiological Study of the Germination of 
Helianthus annuus. 
BY 
EDWIN C. MILLER. 
With twenty-four Figures in the Text. 
Historical Sketch. 
I N 1842 De Saussure ( 1 ) carried on the first investigations in regard to the 
chemical changes which take place in oily seeds during their germina¬ 
tion. He undertook this work in order to test the suggestion of Raspail 
that the oil in seeds might subserve the same purpose during germination as 
the starch in the cereal grains. De Saussure investigated the seed and 
seedlings of the hemp, rape, and madia, and obtained the results shown in 
the table below :— 
Before Germination. 
After Germination. 
Rape. 
Oil . 
• • • 4°-7 A 
36 - 9 % 
Sugar 
- - • 9 - 3 % 
io- 3 % 
Aladia. 
Oil . 
. . . 26.6% 
2 4 ' 2 % 
Sugar 
• • • 5*7 % 
8 -i% 
Hemp. 
Oil . 
. . - 28-6% 
26-0% 
Sugar 
- - - 3 - 7 % 
4 - 8 % 
During his experiments with these seeds, De Saussure investigated for 
the first time the respiration of oily seeds during the early period of their 
germination. He found that the amount of oxygen absorbed by them in 
a given time was greater than the volume of C 0 2 produced. A portion of 
rapeseed for instance had absorbed, up to the period when their hypocotyls 
had reached a length of 11 mm., 31*4 c.c. of oxygen, and had produced only 
24-39 c>c * car bon dioxide. He observed this same phenomenon in the 
other oily seeds with which he experimented. 
As a result of these experiments he announced two important conclusions: 
(1) That during germination the seedlings of oily seeds generate sugar, and 
that they destroy, in part at least, the oil contained in them ; and (2) that 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XXIV. No, XCVI. October, 19104 
3 B 
