I 
320  TENACITY  OF  LIFE  OF  SEEDS  &  SPORES  OF  SOME  PLANTS. 
de  Phys.,  [3],  xxiv,  253)  that  pieces  of  bread,  and  also  of 
dough,  upon  which  the  spores  of  this  fungus  had  been  sown,  and 
then  exposed  in  tubes  in  moist  air  for  half  an  hour  to  the  re- 
spective temperatures  of  212°,  221°,  and  248°  F.,  afterwards 
produced  the  red  fungus ;  while  similar  pieces  of  bread  and 
dough,  treated  in  a  similar  manner  but  not  sown  with  the  spores, 
did  not  yield  this  specific  fungus.  When  the  spores  were  heated 
in  tubes  to  284°  F.  they  lost  their  red  color,  and  then  ceased  to 
germinate. 
It  seems  that  in  this  case,  as  in  that  of  the  cereals,  the  vitality 
of  the  seeds  or  spores  is  retained  under  certain  circumstances  up 
to  nearly  or  quite  the  temperature  required  to  decompose  the 
chemical  substances  in  the  seed,  or  to  disorganize  the  structure. 
In  the  still  lower  Cryptogams  we  have  no  data  either  as  to  the 
chemical  character  of  their  spores,  the  temperatures  required  to 
change  their  organic  compounds,  or  to  disorganize  their  struc- 
ture, and  none  whatever  as  to  the  temperatures  they  may  with- 
stand and  still  germinate.  It  seems,  therefore,  unsafe  to  assume, 
without  proof  to  the  contrary,  that  their  vitality  (germinating 
power)  is  destroyed  at  a  temperature  much  below  that  required 
for  their  actual  destruction  or  disorganization. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  tenacity  of  life  in 
the  higher  plants  is  presented  by  the  Lewis ia  rediviva  of  Wes- 
tern North  America,  a  large-flowering  fleshy  plant,  of  the  Portu- 
laceae,  growing  in  British  Columbia,  Oregon  and  California. 
Dried  specimens  that  have  been  two  years  or  more  in  an 
herbarium  will  still  grow,  and  are  often  troublesome  from 
sprouting  while  between  the  papers.  One  specimen,  collected 
by  Dr.  Lyall,  of  the  British  Navy,  was  "  immersed  in  boiling 
water  "  to  stop  this  growing  propensity  before  drying  out;  and 
yet,  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  afterward,  it  showed  symptoms 
of  vitality,  and  in  May  of  1863  it  produced  its  beautiful  flowers 
in  the  Royal  Gardens  of  Kew.  This  plant  in  flower  is  figured 
in  Curtis's  Botanical  Magazine  for  August  of  that  year.  It  is 
very  desirable  that  some  special  experiments  should  be  made  to 
ascertain  just  how  much  boiling  it  may  undergo  without  loss  of 
vitality. 
April  6th,  1866. 
— Sillimaris  Journ.,  May,  1866. 
