THE WORK OF ROOTS AND STEMS 73 



deeper down, and so remaining in ground which, through 

 the summer, is not frozen hard. 



V — A Plant's Brain 



In all that we have been discussing with regard 

 to the roots of plants, one thing is clear, that they 

 certainly behave as i/they had some sort of dim sense, 

 or at least as if the plant as a whole had. 



More than this we can hardly venture to say, for it 

 is a very difficult question altogether. But so wonderful 

 are the roots in the way they go prowling under ground, 

 not only hunting for food, but apparently choosing 

 just the right food for their own particular growth, 

 that they have even been named " The Brain of the 

 Plant." So a plant's brain seems to be, not as with 

 us at the top of the structure, but down at its feet. 



We need not, indeed, imagine that a plant can really 

 think and understand. All we know is that it certainly 

 has wants ; and that it can respond to — can turn towards 

 — that which will satisfy those wants. 



When root-tips are spoken of as travelling round and 

 round, no rapid movements are meant. If we were 

 watching ever so long and so carefully we could not see 

 those movements. They are real, but they are very 

 slow, very gentle, very gradual. 



Now what do you think becomes of all the water and 

 liquid food sucked in by the roots ? 



It passes first through the hairs into the side roots, 

 then on into the main root, and thence it journeys 

 upward by way of the stem or trunk. Its name at this 

 stage is " raw sap " or " crude sap." It is thus far 



