i6 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



INTELLIGENCE IN PLANTS. 



A writer in Italia termale, who has 

 evidently given the subject a great deal 

 of study, brings forth numerous instances 

 to show that plants, at least some of 

 them, if not all, possess a certain some- 

 thing, which for lack of a better name, 

 we may call intelligence, and which we 

 have hitherto ascribed to the animal 

 kingdom alone. Among the numerous 

 citations made by the author, we may 

 note the following : 



The Mimosa pudica, or " sensitive 

 plant," at the slightest touch, at once 

 folds its leaflets, and the least jar of the 

 box or pot in which they are growing, 

 produces the same effect. If the potted 

 plant is being moved, say in a vehicle of 

 any sort, the leaves at first are kept 

 tightly closed, but shortly they open one 

 at a time. The moment the motion 

 stops every leaflet shuts up so suddenly 

 as to appear that the action was instan- 

 taneous. The sensitiveness of this plant 

 is marvellous, indeed. 



The Dinoea ymiscipula, or " Venus' fly 

 trap," catches flies and digests them. 

 The leaves are shaped like two panniers, 

 and the moment that a fly lights on one 

 they close on it, making it a prisoner. 

 It then exudes a fluid which digests the 

 insect, and is again absorbed, the nourish- 

 ment passing into the vegetable system. 



If the stamens of the barberry are 

 touched with a straw they curl up like a 

 snake. 



A Phytolacca {Phytolacca Elect rica) 

 bend themselves one by one, each in its 

 turn, to the pistil to deposit their pollen. 



Hura crepitans bears a male flower on 

 one branch and a female on another. 

 At the period of fecundation, the bows 

 incline themselves toward each other 

 until the flowers touch the male upper- 

 most. The act of touching is accom- 

 panied by a slight cracking or snapping 



noise, something like the snap of an 

 electric discharge; hence the plant name 

 — the Crepitating Hura. 



Finally, there are light-producing 

 flowers, such as Calendula offici7ialiSt 

 Tropa'olum vtajus, Lilium bulbiferum, 

 and others. Many more, and quite as 

 wonderful examples, might be given ; 

 but those cited are sufficient to show that 

 plants may develop a certain intelligence 

 which, like life itself, escapes definition. 

 — National Druggist. 



A new Constituent of Cassia Oil. — Bertram 

 and Kursten have fonnd that during the rectifi- 

 cation of a large quantity of cassia oil in tne 

 laboratories of Messrs. Schimmel & Co. a crys- 

 talline residue is left after the distillation of the 

 oil, which can be purified by re-crystallization 

 from alcohol. The crystals form large, well- 

 shaped crystals, in six- sided plates, with ob- 

 lique edges, melting at 45°-46°, easily soluble 

 in alcohol, benzol, acetone, or ether, sparingly, 

 soluble in petroleum ether, and separating from 

 this solvent in colorless prisms, which are very 

 slightly soluble in water. Under normal pres- 

 sure the substance boils at 295°, and under a 

 pressure of millimetres at 160°. It possesses all 

 the properties of an aldehyde. Fusion with al- 

 kalies gives salicylic acid, and by the action of 

 potassium permanganate, methyl-salicylic acid 

 is formed, and with silver oxide it yields 

 // — methyl coumaric acid. Hence the constitu- 

 tion of the body is probably methyl coumaric 

 aldehyde. 



,OCH3 

 ~CH=CH— COH 



The correctness of this conclusion is confirm- 

 ed by the synthesis of this body by means of 

 the condensation of methyl-salicylic acid and 

 acetaldehyde.— /cwr. Prakt. Chemie, 



According to Java advices, boring for petro- 

 leum in the Dutch Indies continues to give 

 satisfactory results. In the districts around 

 Sourabaya, the oil wells yield abundantly and 

 a brisk local trade in the product has sprung 

 up. In Mid-Java also the same industry has 

 been started with success. Pipe lines have 

 been laid from wells to the tramway, and tank 

 cars are there filled for despatch to Samarang 

 where oil warehouses are being built. — The 

 British and Colonial Dtuggist. 





