The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-01-14
VITALITY OF SEEDS.
IMPORTANT RESULTS or SCIENTIFIC
iNvEsTIeATIok.

Inssssess Of sssSs Holding suspsndsa
Their Terminating Powers Fer Que Hua.
dred and Fifty Years and Then spriaging
% IAfs Under Proper TrsatmsnE
Not long ago Il was generally believed
that grains Of wheat from Egyptian tombs
had been made 10 gcrminate, and there
seemed therefore 10 bs no limit 10 the
dormant life Of seed. Whom these stories
were proved to he without foundation,
there was general tendency % disbelievs
all Of o similar kind. Now, however, 10
seems established that seeds may live, nm
der proper conditions, greas many years,
perhaps for centuries, and whom we CON-
slider that under these circumstances the
protoplasm within tho seed actually main.
tains It's vitality, this fact Ii very signif-
can't. On the question OF how seeds 40.
oomplish this, much light has bean thrown
by recent experiments Of @. do Candolles
the French botanist, which he Describes in
Le Revue Scicntifque. Some parts Of
his article arc as follows:
"Seeds that have retained their gerzni-
mating power ore said TO possess latent
life.' This expression lncks preoision, for
we may ask whether the LIE Of the seeds
is completely arrested or u IL 10 only 10
tsfded, and the answers would not be the
same In all cases.
"We owe to Messrs. Van Tieghem and
Bounier the following experiment, which
proves that seeds can, In fact, live for Q
certain time this retarded Life. Three lots
of the Same number Of peas and beams
were placed, the FIRST In the open air, tho
second In q sealed glass tube containing
ordinary air, the third In sealed tubs
containing only pure carbonio acid Eas.
At the end Of two years the seeds Of the
irst lot had sensibly increased In weight,
and nearly all had retained their germinat-
ing power. Those preserved In the con.
fined air had Increased less In weight and
terminated In less number than the pro-
oeding. Moreover, tho air contained In
the tube with them had changed In oom.
position. It's proportion Of Oxygen had
falIen to ia per oent, and there was
mixed with It 3.Sper cent Of oarbonio acid
A. 10 the seeds kept In the caxbonio acid,
none Of them could germinats, and thsiI
weight had not changed"
dc Candolle that relate TO the wonderful
power Of resistance to cold displayed by
seeds. Experiments already made By 9th.
ers show that thase seeds may germinats
after having been exposed 20 % tempsra-
turo Of zoos kelow zero, oeutigTsde. Now
tho researches Of Pictet In his celebrated
low temperntue laboratory In Berlin show
that at such o point chemical sction total
" coases. Hence the active Life Of tho
sssds In QUESTION must have been really
suspended, and nevertheless they were
sble to germinate whom planted. In d.
de Candolle's own experiments seeds were
subjected once 0 day for 118 days 10 tenn.
psrsture Of 87S to 636 below zero, for 10
90 hours ut q time, and notwithstanding
this harsh treatmsat they sprouted when
planted. II tho Life Of the seeds, however.
were really suspended they must bs able
70 live out Of contact with air for certain
time. In order to see whether they cocld
do this, II. do Candolle kept seeds urdeR
mercury from ono to three months with
out killing than.
In this state Of suspended life seed ID
In chemical condition, according 70 II
do Capdolle, somewhat resembling thss Of
On explosive mixture-tbat is, 10 70 ready
for chemical action '(growthl but that 90
tion will not begin until the surrounding
conditions are right. In the explosive
these arc conditions Of dryness, tsmpsra-
ture, etc., Just % they ape with the oeed.
A seed, then, is little Bomb, only walt
Ing TO be touched Oh 10 release tts store Of
eaergy and send out discharge In tbs
shape Of . sprout. u. dc Candolle 10
marks on this as follows:
"This state Of chemical and vital inertia
may Last o long time, perhaps even inded-
nitely. It is at least. a. IL seems to mo
the only why of explaining tho preserva-
ton of seeds during great number Of
years. Cases are known where they have
eerminated after period 90 long that %
Is impossible to believe that they kavs
continued In life, properly speaking. In
the interval, no matter how slowly the
processes of life may have gone on. Hsre
arc some remarkable examples:
"a. P. do Candolle mentions seeds that
spfouted very well after more than 90
yeafs-
"Girardin has soen beans sprout that
had lain In the storehouse Of Tourne6crt
moro than 100 years.
"In 1850 Robert Brown sowed, from
curiosity, some seeds from the collection
Of Sir Hans Sloane, whore they had resS
mained for moro than $50 yeark Hs suo-
oeeded In making several gsrminate, In
particular ono Of Nelumbium spociosum
70 water lily), Of which the plan has bssn
preserved in tho British museum, whore
saw IL few years since.
1.-THE alleged germination Of mummy
wheat is, a. 10 now generally known, but
. baseless fable It appears, besides, that
tho wheat was always gterilized before bc-
ing put into the sarcophagi, which pro
oluded all possibility Of its growth. But
to make up for tho fslsity OF this story
divers we'll authenticated facts show THAI
seeds can preserve their power Of sproutins
after an extremely prolonged Sojourn b.
meath the carth-thst L. to say, In shelter
from atmospheric influences
THE most extraordinary oase Of this
kind is that observed several years since
BY Professor De Heldreioh, director OF the
Botanic garden at Athens. While botan,
king In the neighborhood of the mines Of
Laurium this sayant discovered, In 1878,
4 alaucium that he took at once TO beA new
species, and he described IL under the
oame Of glsuoium. This plant made its
appearance on piece Of Land from which
had recently been removed . thick layer Of
rubbish coming from the ancient working
the neighboring mines. This layer
must have been at least 900 years old.
Unless we believe in spontaneous Rsnsra-
tion, 1t seems necessary to suppose that
this glaucium must bo species that ex-
isted long ago In the locality, whose sesds
had been preserved In the earth and rub.
hloh that ou,varad thofn D-IIsaPaPY III.