The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-03-14
VITALITY OF SEEDS.
IMPORTANT RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATION.

INVESTIGATION.
lnstanoes Of Seeds Holding Suspended
Their terminating Powers For Ono Hun
dred and Fifty Years and Then ~Sprtngins
to Life Under Proper Treatment.
Not long ago 1t was generally believed
that grains of wheat from Egyptian tombs
had been made 10 germinate, and there
seemed therefore to be nc limit to the
dormant life Of a seed. When these stories
were proved to he without foundation,
there was a general tendency TO disbelievs
all Of q similar kind. Now, however, II
seems established that seeds may live, un-
der proper conditions, a great many years,
perhaps for centuries, and when we oon-
slider that under these circumstances the
%protcpiasm within the seed actually main
tains Its vitality, this fact Is very signif.
,ant. On the question Of how seeds 40
complish this, much light has been thrown
by recent experiments Of G. de Candolle,
the French botanist, which he describes In
Le Revue Scientifque. Some parts OF
his artiule are as follows:
"Seeds that have retained their germi-
mating power are said to possess latent
life.' This expression lacks precision, for
We may ask whether the life Of the seeds
Ia completely arrested or II 1t Is only re-
tsrded, and the answers would not be the
same In all cases. =
"We owe to Messrs. Van Tieghem and
Rounier 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 beans
were placed, the first In the open air, the
second In a sealed glass tube containing
ordinary air, the third In q sealed tube
containing only pure carbonio noid gas.
At the end Of two years the seeds Of the
first lot had sensibly increased In weight,
and nearly all had retained their germinat-
Ing power: Those preserved In the, con.
fned air had increased lless Up weight and
germipsted IN less number than the pre-
oeding. Moreover, the air contained In
the tube with them had changed In oom.
position. It's proportion Of oxygen had
fallen to 11.4 per cent, and there wal
mixed with 1t S.8per cent of carbonic acid.
Al to the seeds kept in the oarbonio acid,
none of them could germinate, and their
weight had not changed"
de- Candolle that relate to the wonderful
power Of resistance TO cold displayed. by
seeds. Experiments already made by 9th.
srs show that these seeds may germinate
altar hsylng been exposed TO q tempera-
tpre Of zoos kelov zero, oeptigrade. Now
the researches Of Pictet IN his celebrated
low temperature laboratory In Berlin show
that at such a point chemical action total.
" 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 N.
do Candolle's own experiments seeds were
subjected once a day for 11s days to a tenn.
pereture Of 1873 to 68s below zero, for 8 to
30 6onrs at q time, and notwithstanding
this harsh treatms4t, they gprouted when
planted. II the life Of the seeds, however,
we're really suspended they must be able
to live out OF contact with air tor q oertaip
time. In order to see whether they could
do this, NJ. de Candolls kept seeds under
mercury from one to three months with,
out killing them.
In this state of suspended life . seed q
In . chemical condition, according to NJ.
de Candolle, somewhat resembling that OF
in explosive mixture-that Is, 1t Il ready
Tar chemical action (growthl but that CO.
tion will not begin until the surrounding
arp right. In the e~8plostVs
these are conditions Of dryness, tempsfar
tupe, etc.. Just a. they are with the seed.
A seed, then, II q little bomb, only wait
ing to be touched of to release Its store OF
energy and send out a discharge In the
shape of q spreut. M. de Candolle NJ
marks on this a. follows:
"This stats Of chemical and vital inersia
may last Q long time, perhaps even indef.
nitely. 1t Is at least, as 1t seems to me,
the only way of explaining the preserya.
tlop Of seeds during Q great number o.
years. Cases are kpown where they have
terminated after Q period so long that y
p impossible TO bslts7e that they haze
opntinued In life, propaFy speaking, 10
the interval, no matter how slowly tho
processes Of life may have gone on. Hefs
Are some remarkable examples:
"a. P. de Capdolle mentions seeds that
sprouted very we'll after more than 40
years.
"Girardin' has seen beans sprout that
had lain In the storehouse Of Tournefort
more than 100 years.
"In 1850 Robert Brown sowed, from
curiosity, some seeds from the collection
Of Sir Hans Sloane, where they had re-
80 than fEA uoopa uo anN.
peeded In making several germinate, ~
Parfioplaf ens Of Relpmbium speciosum
"a water lily, Of which the plan has beep
preserved in the British museum, where ]
law II q few years stnpe.
tThe alleged termination Of mummy
wheat ia, 4s is pow generally known, but
. bsseless fable. 1t appears, besides, that
thu wheat was always aterilized before DO
ing put into the %saroophagl, which pre-
oluded all possibility Of Its growth. But
to make up for the falsity Of this story
divers we'll authenticated facts show tina,
seeds can preserve their power Of sprouting
after an extremely prolonged s~ojourn be-
meath the earth-that Is to say, In shelter
from atmospheric influences
. 1.-The most extraordinary caas Of thii
kind is that observed several years since
By Professor De Heldreioh, direotor Of ths
botanic garden at Athens. While hotan.
izing In the neighborhood Of the mines OF
Laurium this savant discovered, In 1873,
4 slaucium that he took at onoe to be . new
species, and he described 1t under thu
name Of glauoium. This plant made ita
appearance on a piece Of land from which
had recently been removed a thick layer OF
rubbish coming from the ancient working
r the ~neighboring mines. This Layer
must have been at least 1,a0O years OLD.
Unless we believe In spontaneous genera
ton, it seems necessary to suppose that
this glauoium must be q species that o.
iatad lona 400 In tha locality, whose aaads