The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-07-02
VITALITY OF SEEDS.
IMPORTANT RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATION.

IMPORTANT RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATION.
instaaces OF Seeds Holding susprndsi
Their terminating Powers For Ono Hun
drrd and riny Years and Then springins
To Life Under Proper Treatment
Not long ago Il was generally believed
that grains of wheat from Egyptian tombs
had been made TO gcrminate, and there
seemed therefore to be no limit to the
dormant life OF n seed. When these stories
were proved to As without foundation,
there was general tendency 70 disbelievs
all Of similar kind. Now, however, II
seems established that seeds mny live, nn-
der proper conditions, great many years,
perhaps for centuries, and when VIC con-
slider that under these circumstances the
protoplasm within tho seed actually main
tains its vitality, this fuct Is very signifi-
can't. On the question OF how seeds nc.
complish this, much light has been thrown
BY recent experiments Of G. dc Candolle,
the French botanist, which he describes II
Le Revue Scient,flque. Some parts Of
his article are rs follows:'
"Seeds that have retained their germi-
mating power ara said to possess latent
Life. This expression lacks precision, for
We may ask whether the life Of the seeds
"a completely arrested or II Il Ia only re-
tarded, and the answers would not be tho
same In all cases.
"We owe to Messrs. Van Tieghem and
Bounier the following experiment, which
proves that seeds can. In fact, 1.-Two for
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 a scaled glass tube containing
ordinary air, the third In q sealed tube
containing only pure carbonic acid gas.
At tho end Of two years the seeds OF the
first lot had sensibly increased In weight,
and nearly ell had retained their germinat-
ing power. Those preserved In the con.
dned air had increased less in weight and
perminnted in less number than the pre-
oeding. Moreover. the air contained In
the tube with them had changed In COLD.
position. Its proportion Of oxygen had
fallen to 1i.4 per cent, and there was
mixed with 1t 3.s per cent Of carbonic nctd.
A. to the seeds kept In the carbonic acid,
mono cs them could germinate, and their
weight had not changed"
Experiments ore then described by III.
do Candolle that relate to the wonderful
power OF resistance to cold displayed by
seeds. Experiments already made by 9TH
ers show that these seeds may germinats
after having been exposed to tenpern-
ture of / ,O08 kclow zero, centigrade. Now
the researches Of Pictet In his celebrated
low temperature laboratory insBerlin show
that ut such point chemical action total.
ly coases Hence the active life Of the
needs In question must have been really
suspended, and nevertheless they were
able to germinate when planted. In M.
dc Candolle's own experiments seeds were
subjected once day for 11s days to tenn.
perature Of S7S to 98s below zero, for 8 20
30 hours at time, and notwithstanding
this harsh treatm.at, they sprouted when
planted. II the life Of the seeds, however,
were really suspended they must be able
TO live out Of contact with air for q certain
time. In order to see whether thoy could
do this NJ. do Candolle kept seeds under
mercury from ono to three months with
out Elllng tnem.
In this state Of suspended life Q seed d
In chemical condition, according to n.
do Candolls, somewhat resembling that OF
an explosive mixture-tbat IL, 1t, II ready
for chemical action (growth), but that 90
ton will not begin until the surrounding
conditions ere right. In the explosive
these arc conditions Of dryness, tempera-
ture, etc., lust as they are with the seed.
A seed, then, is little bomb. only wait.
Ing to be touched OF to release Its store OF
energy and send out o discharge In the
shape OF q sprout. M. de Candolle n
marks on this az follows:
"This state Of chemical and vital inertia
may Inst long time. perhaps oven inded-
niteiy. It L. at least, as It seems to me,
the only way of explaining the prsserya-
ton of seeds during Q great number OF
years Cases nre known where they have
germinated after q period 80 long that u
In impossible to belio-e that they have
continued In life, properly speaking. In
the interval, no mntter how slowly the
processes Of lie may have gone on. Hero
are some remarkable examples:
"a. P. de Cendolle mentions seeds that
sprouted very we'll after moro than 90
years.
"Girardin has seen beans sprout that
had lain In tho storchouse Of Tournsfort
moro than 100 years.
"In 1850 Robert Brown sowed, from
curiosity, some seeds from the collection
Of Sir Hans Sloane, where they had 70
mained for moro than $50 yeara He suo-
oeeded in making several germinate, IN
particular one Of Nelumbium speciosum
10 water lily), Of which the plan has been
preserved In the British museum, where
saw IL few years since.
Tho alleged termination OF mummy
wheat Is, as Is now generally known, but
baseless fable. It appears. besides, that
the wheat was always sterilized before be-
Ing put into the sarcophagi, which pre-
oluded all possibility Of Its growth. But
to make up for the falsity OF this story
divers we'll authenticated facts show thn,
seeds can preserve their power OF sproutins
after an extremely prolonged sojourn be-
meath the earth-that Is to say, In shelter
from atmospheric influences
'.Tho most extraordinary case OF this
kind is that observed several years since
by Professor De Heldreioh. director OF the
Botanic garden at Athens. While botan,
izinR In tho neighborhood OF the mines OF
Laurium this savant discovered, In 1878,
q slauoium that he took ut once TO be new
species, and he described 1t under the
name Of glsucium. This plant made its
appearance on piece Of land from which
had recently been removed thick layer OF
rubbish coming from tho ancient working
the neighboring mines. This layer
must have been at least 1900 years old.
Unless We believe in spontaneous genera
tion, IL seems necessary TO suppose that
this piuucium must be q species that ex-