The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-10-18
VITALITY OF SEEDS.
IMPORTANT RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATION.
Instances Of Seeds Holding Suspended
Their terminating Powers For One Hun
dred and Fifty Years and Then springing
IN Life Under Proper Treatment.

Not long ago IL was generally DeiloVeu
that grains of wheat from Egyptian tombs
had been made to germinate, ana there
seemed therefore TO be no limit TO the
dormant life of a seed. When these stories
were proved to be without foundation,
there was a general tendency 20 disbelieve
nil of a similar kind. Now, however, 1t
seems established that seeds may live, I'M
der proper conditions, great many years,
perhaps for centuries, and when we con-
slider that under these circumstances the
within the seed actually main
tains its vitality, this fact is very signiil'
can't. On the question of how seeds ac-
this, much light has been thrown
by recent experiments of g. dc Candolle,
the French botanist, which he describes in
LIE Revue Scientifique. Some. parts OF
his article are as follows:
"Seeds that have retained their gormi-
mating power are said to possess latent
life. This expression lacks precision, for
we may ask whether the life of the seeds
is completely arrested or If it Is only re-
tarded, and the answers would not be the
same in all cases.
eve owe to Messrs. Van Tieghem and
Bounior the following experiment, which
proves that seeds can, in fact, live Tor
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 q scaled glass tube containing
ordinary air, the thirdsin sealed tube
containing only pure carbonio 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 germlnat-
ing power. Those preserved in the con-
fined air had increased less in weight and
terminated in less number than the pre-.
oedinc. Moreover, the air contained In
the tube with them had changed in com
position Its proportion or oxygen haa
fallen to liza per cent, and there was
mixed with it 3.Sp per cent of carbonic acid.
AS TO the seeds kept in the carbonic acid,
none of them could germinate, and their
weight had not changed. "
Experiments are then described by nj.
de Candole that relate to the wonderful
power of resistance to cold displayed by
seeds. Experiments already made by 9TH
ers show that these seeds may terminate
after having been exposed to tempera-
ture of !, COS kelow zero, centigrade. Now
the researches of Pictet in his celebrated
low temperature laboratory in Berlin show
that at such point chemical action total
ly ceases. Hence the active life of the
seeds in question must have been really
SUSPENDED. and nevertheless they were
able to terminate when planted. In Nj.
de Candolles own experiments seeds were
subjected once day for l1S days to tenn
perature of 37S to 53S below zero, for to
20 hours at time, and Notwithstanding
this harsh treatment, they sprouted when
planted. If the life of the seeds, however,
were really suspended they must be able
to live out of contact with air for certain
time. In order TO see whether they coulo
do this, NJ. de Candolle kept seeds under
mercury from one to three months with
out killing them.
In this state of suspended life a seed l:
in chemical condition, according to M
de Candolle, somewhat resembling that o
an explosive mixture-that Is, 1t is read!
for chemical action (growth), but that nc
ton will not begin until the surroundin!
| conditions are right. In the explosiv
| these are conditions of dryness, tempera
| ture, etc, just as they are with the seed
| A seed, then, is little bomb, only wait
| ing to be touched off to release its store
energy and send out discharge in tn
shape of sprout. M. do Candolle re
| marks on this as follows:
| "This state of chemical and vital merit
may last long time, perhaps even indeil
nitely. 1t is at least, as it seems to me
the only way of explaining the preservo
| ton of seeds during great number {
wears. Cases are known where they hav
| germinated after period so long that
is impossible to believe that they hay
continued in life, properly speaking,
the interval, no matter how slowly III
processes of life may have gone on. Hei
are some remarkable examples:
"a. p. de Candolle mentions seeds tn;
sprouted very well after more than
years
"Girardin has seen beans sprout th'
had lain in the storehouse of Tournefo
more than 100 years.
"In 1850 Robert Brown sowed, fro
curiosity, some seeds from the collectio
of Sir Hans Sloane, where they had T
manned for more than $50 years. He su
ceeded in making several terminate,
particular one of Nelumbium speciosu
. Ga water lily), of which the plan has be-
, preserved In the British museum, where
, saw 1t few years since.
1.-THE alleged termination OF mumn
, | wheat is, as is now generally known, b
, "a baseless fable. 1t appears, besides, tn
: the wheat was always sterilized before !
, ing put into the sarcophagi, which pl
, cludod all possibility Of its growth
: to make up for tho falsity of this sto
!, divers we'll authenticated facts show tn
seeds can preserve their power of sprouti
/, after an extremely prolonged soiourn
. meath the carth--that is 20 say, in she'll
= from atmospheric influences.
a THE most extraordinary case 81 q
e. kind is that observed s1fr.al years sit
= by Professor Dc HnlGFi'i circrtor OF
- Botanic garden az A,hcDe While hoif
- izing in the neilhhogaocA ui tho mines
~ Laurum this si.ynnt di-covered in l6
20 q glnucium has hu tuul: a t1-.to A' % D.
~ species, and he desc4h. u D. urCcr
= name Of glauclUm Tai past matte
= appearance on Tic3o q, l.aj -om VIII
4 had recently been rojn"yed % ,ilcs layer
rubbish coming iraui tHu uuc.gnt N,orkl
of the ncighboriEg mi"es Iaif y"
must have been o. least l.500 years g
Unless we believe il spontaneous gene
!, ton, il seems nocCseary to SUPPOSE u
u this glaucium mas, D. species that
y listed long ago in tho locality, whose SO
IL had been preserved IN the earth and r
70 bish that covered t.cn. Literary
- gest.