The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1895-12-19


live for a certain time this retarded
life. Three lots of the same number of
peas and beans were placed, the first
in the open air the second in sealed
glass tube containing ordinary air, the
third in a sealed tube containing only
pure carbonic acid gas. At the end
of two years the seeds of the first lot
had sensibly increased in weight and
nearly all had retained their germi-
Mating power. Those preserved in the
confined air had increased less in
weight and terminated in less number
than the preceding. Moreover, the air
contained in the tube with them had
changed in composition; its proportion
of oxygen had fallen to LA per cent
and there was mixed with it 3S per
cent of carbonic acid AS to the seeds
kept in the carbonic acid, none of them
could terminate and their weight had
not changed"
Experiments are then described by
NJ. de Candolle that relate to the won
derful power of resistance to cold dls-
played by seeds. Experiments already
made by others show that seeds may
terminate after having been exposed TO
temperature of 1908 degrees below
zero, centigrade. Now the researches
Of Pictet in his celebrated loW-tempera-
ture laboratory at Berlin show that at
such a point chemical action totally
ceases, hence the active life of the
seeds in question must have been real
ly suspended, and nevertheless they
were able to terminate when planted
In M de Candolle's own experiments
seeds We're subjected once day for
| 11S days to a temperature of 3IS to 53S
| below zero, for eight to twenty hours
at a time, and notwithstanding this
harsh treatment they sprouted wheh
| planted. If the life of the seeds, how
ever, were really suspended, they must
be able to live out of contact with air
| for a certain time In order to see
whether they could do this M. de Can
dole kept seeds under mercury from
| one to three months without killing
| them.
In this state of suspended life a
seed is in a chemical condition. accord
ing to NJ. Candolle, somewhat resem-
bling that of an explosive mixture;
| that is, it is ready for chemical action
| (growth), but that action Will not be
gin until the surrounding conditions
are right. In the explosive these are
conditions of dryness, temperature
etc, just as they are with the seed.
A seed. then, is little bomb, only
| waiting to be touched off, release It's
store of energy and send out dis
| charge in the shape of a sprout. M. de
| Candolle remarks on this as follows;
"This state of chemical and vital in
ertia may last a long time, perhaps
even indefinitely. 1t is, at least, as II
seems to me, the only way of explain
| ing the preservation of seeds during a
great number of years. Cases are
! known where they have terminated at
ter a period so long that it is impossi-
BILE to believe that they have contln-
ued in life, properly speaking, in the
interval, no matter how slowly the
processes of life may have gone on
| Here are some remarkable examples
"A. p. Candolle mentions seeds thai
sprouted very well after more thar
sixty years.
"Girardin has seen beans sprout thai
had lain in the storehouse of Tourne'
fort more than 100 years.
an 1850 Robert Brown sowed, from
curiosity, some seeds from the collec
ton of Sir Hans Sloane, where they
had remained for more than $50 years
He succeeded in making several germl
nate, in particular one of Nelubriun
speciosum Ca water-lily) of which thu
plant has been preserved in the. British
Museum, where l saw 1t a few years
ago.
1.-The alleged termination of mummy
wheat Is, as is now generally known
but a baseless fable. 1t appears, be
Sides that the wheat was always sterl
lized before being put into the sarco
phagi, which precluded all possibillt!
of it's growth. But to make up for tn
falsity of this story, divers Well-au
. thenticated facts show that seeds cal
preserve their power of sprouting are
an extremely prolonged soJourn be
, meath the earth; that is to say IN s ne.
ter from atmospheric influences. IN
most extraordinary case of this KIM
is that observed several years since b.
Prof. de Heldreich, director of tn
Botanical Garden at Athens. VIM
botanizing in the neighborhood of tn
, mines of Laurium, this savant discoV
cred in 1873 Glaucium that he too
) at once to be new species, and ne de
scribed it under the name of Glauciun
This plant made it's appearance on
piece of land from which had recent
, been removed thick layer of rubbis
coming from the ancient working O
!, the neighboring mines. This layer mus
have been at least 1900 years old. I'm
, less we believe in spontaneous genera
ton, 1t seems necessary to suppose ina
this Glaucium must be species tina
g existed long ago in the locality, who's
seeds had been preserved in the cart
and rubbish that covered them"
. M. Candolle here goes on to deScrib
: the experiments of Prof. Peter of Got
tingen, on the cultivation of mold ia
> ken from forests, which show that here
TOO. SeeQS lie uOIIudiil III SNe1i W
, meath the soil. Peters conclusion
thus quoted:
+. although the experiments that haV
$ been described do not solve the queS
ton of how long the seeds retain thei
generative power, their results sho'
!. that in the case of many plants of fiel
! or prairie this period may greatly eA
coed half a century"
z NJ de Candolle says, In conclusion;
Z "These researches of Prof. Peter Gel
tainly deserve attention. We must hop
: that they will be initiated in othe
r countries and In divers kinds of lant
!, for they reveal very important fact
4 for biology and prehistoric botany. A
4 phonse de Candolle has already DIVE
. on the interest 1t would excite to max
borings in the Alpine SHOWS for IN
S purpose of recovering vestiges of tn
+ vegetation anterior to the glacial per
cd. 1t is to be regretted that the Idle
y has never been carried out, for tn
facts that / have just stated almoE
: make us hope that researches of tn
L kind might lead to the discovery {
t germs yet capable of growth, althoug
dating from an early epoch. "-Tran
Z lated for the Literary Digest.