1904] Experiment in Vitality in Plants. 173 



which was then several hours after the plant was gathered in the 

 fields, the plant exhibiting- such difficulty in retaining its natural 

 position that even after making a tresh cut there was but very little 

 energy displayed on the part of the plant, and the experiment 

 which ior the time being proved so intensely interesting was 

 abandoned. 



A similar and collateral experiment was made at the same 

 time with a field daisy {Chrysntifhemum leucanthemum, L.) another 

 introduced plant, a weed, but a beautful one, and it seemed to 

 show that the process of absorption in this plant was much less 

 rapid and effective than in the common buttercup. 



It is a well recognised fact that the buttercup grows best in 

 the dampest places in fields and meadows. 



In the moist atmosphere and prevailing damp climate of the 

 Maritime Provinces where the experiment was made, buttercups 

 grow in what appears to be dry places, but in reality the air is so 

 saturated with moisture, hygrometric readings being always high, 

 that a plant, like the buttercup, requiring moisture, feels at home 

 anywhere. 



I would strongly recommend some of our your younger 

 naturalists to try the experiment for themselves with the common 

 buttercup or any other plant they may choose within their neigh- 

 bourhood during the coming season. 



McArras Brook, Antigonish County, N.S. 



