INFLUENCE OF ELECTKICITY ON VEGETATION. 107 



popular statement, were unsatisfactory, as being on too small a 

 scale, and consequently very liable to mislead ; it was therefore 

 thought right to commence an extensive series of similar experi- 

 ments, on a considerable variety of plants ; for this purpose 140 

 smaU beds were prepared, and in every alternate one there were 

 sunk a couple of metallic plates, one zinc and the other copper, 

 4 inches deep and 5 broad, connected together by a. piece of stout 

 copper wire, and so placed that about half an inch of each plate 

 was visible above the surface of the ground, at a distance of six 

 inches apart. The beds were arranged in rows, the alternate 

 ones of each row having plates, whilst the intermediate ones 

 were left free as standards of comparison ; thus the first bed of 

 the first row had plates, the first of the second row had none, 

 and was kept as a standard ; the second bed of the first row was 

 kept as a standard, whilst the second of the second row had 

 plates, and this alternation was kept up throughout the whole 

 series, in order to guard against any eflects Avhich might possi- 

 bly be subsequently attributed to the peculiar position of any 

 one row, as compared with the others. Immediately after put- 

 ting in the plates, the whole sum of little beds was sown with 

 seventy ditferent sorts of seeds ; as nearly as possible the 

 same number of seeds being sown in eacli couple of beds, and 

 the same covering of mould being given in each case ; all other 

 circumstances were alike. The experiment was watched from 

 day to day, and the number of plants which came up, noted down. 

 The following table shows the result of these experiments. The 

 seed was sown at the latter end of May. 



