722 Miller.—A Physiological Study of the 
planting to Stage I, when the hypocotyls and roots are 2*5 to 3-5 cm. in 
length, and the formation of new cells scarcely begun. The seedling up to 
that time has lost \ of the original weight of the seeds. The cotyledons 
have lost § of the sugar which was present in the resting seed. This is no 
doubt oxidized at once in the cells where it is found, since it is not probable 
that it migrates into the hypocotyls at this early stage, for its transportation 
from all parts of the cotyledons to those parts would be improbable through 
cells packed so full of reserve material. 
In this period nearly J of the proteid disappears. The loss of the 
total nitrogen during that period represents approximately that amount. 
The amount of oil during the same period has diminished ~ of its original 
amount. These results give one an idea of the great amount of energy 
— e 
r — ** ~ 
^,4 
_ _ 
--< 
r - 
---- 
-« 
--H 
>- 
— 
--< 
fc* — - u 
/ 
2 
3 
4 
6 
7 
a 
9 
/o 
n 
12 
1^ 
Length of Time in Dags. 
Fig. 24. Cellulose, weight in grams per 100 seedlings. 
required at the very beginning of germination to set the life-processes, as it 
were, in motion. This fact is clearly indicated by the loss of nitrogen 
in the first stages of germination, a process which is very unusual in the 
metabolism of plants, for under ordinary conditions the nitrogen of the 
protein-compounds is never liberated from the plant. 
Problem of Oil-transformation .—The marked increase in the amount of 
carbohydrate in the seedling during germination raises the question as 
to its origin, which in the sunflower could only be the proteid or the oil. It 
is difficult to understand how the proteid can be the source of any material 
portion of the carbohydrate which makes its appearance during the growth 
of the seedling. For example, compare Stages I and III ; the total amount 
of cellulose and sugar in 100 seedlings at Stage I amounts to 0-3 gram, and 
the proteid nitrogen x 5-5 amounts to 1*3 grams; at Stage III, when the 
