The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-08-27
VITALITY OF SEEDS.
IMPORTANT RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATION.

RnSeA0oee q Seeds Holding Ouspenooe
THAR 0srminsaing Powers For One Hun
dred sna fifsy Years and Then Springinl
20 Iife Upder Proper Treatment.
Not long ago It was generally believed
that grains Of wheat from Egyptian tombs
had been made 20 germinate, and thers
,oemed therefore to be NO limit to the
dormant life of . seed. When these stories
were proved to 10 without foundation,
thero was O general tendency 20 disbelievs
all Of a similar kind. Now, however, n
seems established that seeds may live, un'
der pruper conditions, Q great many years,
perhaps for centuries, and when We con-
slider that under these circumstances the
protoplnsm within the seed actually main
tains It's vitality, this fact is very signifi'
can't On the question Of how seeds 40.
cOmplish this, much light has been thrown
BY recent experiments Of e. do Candolle,
the French botanist, which he describes IN
Ls Revue Soientifque. Some parts o.
his article are rs follows:
"Seeds that have retained their gormi-
mating power arc said to possess latent
life.' This expression lacks precision, fos
We may ask whether the life Of tho seeds
is completely arrested or II IL Ia only TO
tart3od, and the answers would not DO the
same In all cascs-
"We owe to Messrs. Van Tieghem and
Bounier the following experiment, which
proves that seeds can, In fact, live Tor
certain tiue this retarded life. Three lots
OF the Same number Of peas and beans
were placed, the first In tho open air. the
second In q sealed glass tube containing
ordinary air, tho third In q sealed tubs
containing only pure oarbonio acid gas.
At tho and Of two years tho seeds OF the
lrss lot had sensibly increased In weight,
and nearly oil had retained their germinat-
Ing power. Those preserved In the con.
flned air had increased less In weight and
terminated in less number than tho pre-
ceding. Moreover, tho air contained In
the tube with them had changed In com.
position. It's proportion Of oxygen had
fallen to ia per oent, and there wa
mixed with It S.S per can't Of oarbonio sold.
A. 10 the seeds kept In the carbonio acid,
none Of them could esrminAte. and their
weight had not changed"
Experiments arc then described BY n.
do Capdolle that relate to the wonderful
ROVER OF resistance to cold displayed BY
seeds. Experimsnts already made BY 9TH
srs show that thase seeds may germinate
altar having been exposed TO tenpora-
ture Of ], ,OO8 kelow zero, oeDtigrade. Now
the researches Of Piotes Ia his celebrated
low temperature laboratory In Berlin show
that at such point chemical action total.
IL ceases. Hence tho activs life Of tho
eoe5s in question must have bean really
Suspended, and nevertheless they were
abls 10 germinate when planted. In II.
de- Candolle's own experiments seeds vers
subjected once day for 11s days to tem-
perasure Of 878 to bsS below 1ero, for 8 70
90 hours at time, and notwithstaSding
shis harsh treotmsnh they sprouted when
planted. II the Life Of the seeds, however,
wsrs really suspended they must bs abls
10 live out Of contact With air for certain
time. In order to sec whether they could
do ShiA II. do Candolle kept seeds undof
mercury from one TO three months with
out killing them.
In this state OF suspended life . seed u
In chemical condition, according to n.
% Candolls, somewhat resembling that OF
IN explosive snixture-thas Il. 10 u ready
Tor chemical action (growthl but that 90
tion viii not begin until tho surrounding
conditions are right. In tho explosive
these arc conditions Of dryness, tempsrn-
ture, etc.. Just - they ape with the oeed.
A Sod, then, IL little bsmb. only watt.
ing 10 he touched OF to release its store Of
snorRy and send out Q discharge In the
shape Of q sprout. II. dc Candolle to
marks on shia % follows:
"This state Of chemical and vital inGftia
may last . long time, perhaps svsn inden'
uitely. Il u at least, a. II seems TO mo
the only way of explaining tho prssarva-
sion Of seeds during . great number OF
years. Cases are known whore they have
gsrminated after . pariod 90 long that II
u impossible to beliovo that they have
continued In life, properly speaking In
the interval, no matter how slowly the
processes Of Life may have gone on. Hers
are some remarkable examples:
"A. p. do Candolls mentions seeds that
spsoutsd very we'll altar more than %
ysafs.
"Girardin has sesn beano sprout that
bad lain In the storeh0uss Of TouI:nefort
more than 100 years.
"In 1850 Robert Brown sowsd, from
curiosity, some seeds from the oollectioo
Of Sir Hans Sloane. where they had 70
mained for moro than l60 yearA Hs suo.
ossdsd In making several gsrminate, In
particular one Of Nelumbium speoiosum
10 woter lily), Of which the plan has been
preserved In the British museum, whore j
s.w it few years since
"The alleged germination Of mummy
wheat ID, ss 10 now generally known, bot
Q haseless fable II appears, besides, that
the wheat was always sterilixed before b.
Ing put into the saroophagi, which pro
oluded all possibility Of Ito growth. But
to make up for tho falsity Of this ssory
divers well authenticated faots show thai
soeds oan preserve their power Of sprouttng
After IN extremely prolonged sojourn b.
noath the earth-that Il TO say, In shelter
trom atmospheric influence
"The most Extraordinary oase Of this
kind ID that observed several years sinos
By Professor Do Heldreieh. director Of the
Botanic garden at Athena While botsn-
izing In the neishborhood Of the mines OF
Laurium this sayant discovered, In 1873.
4 slauoium that be took at onoe 10 be . new
specisa, and he described it under the
nams Of glapoium. This plant made ita
Appaasance ON . piece of land from which
had rscently bean removed thick layer Of
rubbish coming from the ancient working
the neighboring mines. This layez
must have BEEN at least 1900 years old.
Unless ws believe In spontaneous asness-
sion, 80 seems necessary to suppose that
this glarcium must be o species that ex-
istsd long ago In the locality, whose seeds
bad been preserved In the earth and rub,
bish that covered them. "-LAtsrary Di.
uosf