396 
THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY. 
cells, and hence the term sometimes given to them is that 
of Cellulares. In these it would appear that some deeom- 
posable matter is necessary to the formation of new indivi¬ 
duals, having which a little leaven leaveneth the whole 
lump;^^ such is the action of yeast in bread, yeast itself 
being a plant of a simple cellular structure. The seeds of 
all plants are remarkable for retaining vitality for a greater 
or less time, quite independent of the parent, and hence they 
afford a ready means of transporting new^ plants to a distanee 
either by aceident or design ; and that they may be the more 
readily transferred to a distance, many seeds will be found to 
possess a variously formed winged apparatus that can readily 
be aeted upon by the wind on the one hand, while most 
seeds are eapable of floating on the water on the other. 
Much has been said and written upon the longevity of 
seeds, but we incline to the belief that though it would be 
difficult in all cases to assign the limit at which the seed of 
any plant would retain its vitality, yet there is reason to 
conclude that the assertion that seeds taken from Egyptian 
mummies have germinated is founded upon a fallacy, and in 
all such cases we should require very clear proof before 
giving our assent. 
Viewing the matter practically, we know that seeds re¬ 
served for use diminish in vitality year by year, as our ex¬ 
periments with turnip seeds have sufficiently shown. The 
following table is the result of experiments with ten sorts of 
turnip seeds saved in 1859-60 : 
Germination of ten sorts of Turnips in 1860 and 1862. 
No. 
Name. 
Came up 
1860. 
Came up i 
1862. 
Per cent. 
Per cent. 
] 
Mousetail Turnip, 1859 .... 
96 
46 
2 
White Globe, 1859 . 
86 
44 
3 
Green Round, 1859 . 
96 
94 
4 
Red Globe, 1860 ..... 
90 
58 
5 
Yellow Tankard, 1859 .... 
92 
62 
6 
Smart’s Mousetail, 1860 .... 
98 
62 
7 
Green-topped Stone, 1860 
84 
88 
8 
Sutton’s Green Globe, 1860 
98 
80 
9 
Green-topped Scotch, 1860 
90 
86 
10 
Early Six Weeks’, 1860 .... 
90 
70 
Came up average .... 
92 
72 
Tailed ...... 
8 
28 
The above are the results from seeds of two and three 
