150 ISABURO NAGAI: 
there appears to be no appreciable stimulating influence of OH or H 
ions. The hulled grains (“ Kumamoto”) are placed in 1/;) N H, SOx "Jo N; 7/0 N 
oxalic acid, "/o N, "/o N NaOH, and distilled water. ach culture received 100 
e.e. of the solution and fifty grains. At the end of 24 hours in the thermostat 
at 27°C no germination is observed, except the controls (distilled water) in 
which the plumule slightly appeared. The concentration of NaOH, as low as 
‘ho N, collapses the seed covering, the grains thus being destroyed. No 
injury is observed in other cultures. At the end of 72 hours, still no germi- 
nation took place, except in distilled water. The germinated grains develop- 
ed plumules over 1.5cm in length. Even after five days, no germination 
was observed in the solutions, showing that the grains of Oryza are unable 
to germinate in acidity or alkalinity as low as !/„N. FISCHER, however, 
found stimulating action in Sagittaria in the '/oN solutions. Consequently 
lower concentration, were applied, namely: 1/55, "/ıoo» "uw N oxalic acid and 
Na OH, together with tap and distilled water as controls. At the end of 
24 hours no germination had begun, but the embryos swelled slightly, except 
with distilled water, in which the swelling was distinct. At the end of 48 
hours germination took place in all cultures; no marked difference could be 
observed, which may be attributed to the action of the applied ions. After 
four days, the average length of the shootlets in the seedlings were measured 
as follows: 
Na OH'/„N less than 1.0 mm. 
Beet pes 1.4 mm. 
»  ‘/r000 N 10.0 mm. 
Tap water 9.9 mm. 
Distilled water 15.0 mm. 
Again, the development is found to be best in distilled water. A ques- 
tion may arise whether the distilled water might have contained a trace of 
copper or some other heavy metal ions which act as stimulants for the 
germination. The control experiments,* however, show negative results, so 
The following cultures were included: 
1. Redistilled water (hard glass wares used) in paraffined hard glass Erlenmeyer flasks. 
2. Redistilled water in not paraffined hard glass. 
3. Distilled: water 
” ” ” ” > 8 
