THE PLANT WORLD UNDER CARE. 



425 



pears at once, and only an apparently 

 withered clump in which the hard and 

 prickly stems are most conspicuous 

 remains; the consequence being that 

 the animal either turns away or passes 

 through the clump to less bewildering 

 pasturage." 



\ common -plant in our northern 

 fields, (Cassia Chamaecrista) has some 

 of the habits of Mimosa, although to 

 a much less extent and degree. It is a 

 sensitive plant, and will respond by the 

 closing of the leaflets, but it demands 

 rather a severe blow, or somewhat pro- 

 longed irritation if that is slight or de- 

 licate. The parts will close tightly 

 after repeated and rather severe shocks, 

 or after the stem has been carried loose- 

 ly in the hand for several minutes. But 

 (Cassia Chamaecrista) is the sensitive 

 plant of the northern fields and high- 

 lands, and deserves respectful consid- 

 eration on that account. It and the 

 Mimosa belong to the same botanical 

 family, the Leguminosse. Cassia nic- 

 titans of New England and of the west, 

 is similarly sensitive. 



I have had great enjoyment in study- 

 ing the details of the pollen mass on 

 these globular heads. Every person 

 who saw the plants either in the gar- 

 den or in the greenhouse, exclaimed 

 with astonishment at their wonderful 

 movements, but it is a greater wonder 

 to me that so many intelligent obser- 

 vers deprive themselves of the pleasure 

 to be obtained by studying the sensi- 

 tive plant. It is not difficult to grow. 

 Then why not this coming year have 

 at least a pot or a box of earth in 

 which a few of them may be culti- 

 vated? There are many things about 

 the plant that are not yet known, and 

 you, perhaps, by persistent observation 

 and experiment, may be able to add to 

 our knowledge. 



Aside from my own personal experiments 

 and observations, many of the scientific facts 

 here mentioned I have obtained from a 

 delightful little book, entitled "Living Plants 

 and Their Properties, a Collection of Es- 

 says," By Professors J. C. Arthur and D. 

 T. MacDougal. 16 mo, pp. 234. Baker and 

 Tavlor, New York. 



• ........ — * • inn ; '••••....... • ; 



AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION' 



W8S£&&S@88SSSS &^^ 



FORMATIONS OF CHAPTERS. 



The best plan we have yet discovered 

 is to organize local branch societies, or 

 "chapters" as we call them. 



These chapters may consist of four or 

 more members and may pursue any line 

 or lines of scientific study they choose. 

 It is an excellent plan to make a careful 

 study of your own town until yon are 

 thoroughly acquainted with its plant and 

 animal life and the minerals it produces. 



Most of the great observers made then- 

 observations elose by home. Gilbert 

 White watched the swallows that nested 

 under the eaves ; Darwin studied the 

 angle-worm in his garden ; Agassiz drew 

 the fishes that he caught in the neighbor- 

 hood brooks; Palissey found his fossils 

 near his own dwelling 1 . 



So we like to set people to work just 

 where they are living. We like to have 

 them make local museums, in which they 

 shall have complete and well-labelled 

 collections of the plants and minerals to 

 be found within a radius of five or ten 

 miles from their door. 



Such societies have already been form- 

 ed in over a thousand towns and cities 

 throughout the United States and Can- 

 ada. There are several abroad, in Eng- 

 land, xAmstralia, Russia, Tasmania, and 

 New Zealand, all united with one name 

 and one purpose, exchanging speci- 

 mens, and corresponding wdth one an- 

 other on matters of common interest. 



The union of kindred students pro- 

 motes the interest of each. Every one 

 who finds anvthing wants some one he 



