70 GLIMPSES IX TO PLANT-LIFE 



Roots appear to be endo\vecl with certain remark- 

 able attributes, about which learned books have 

 been written of late, giving the result of patient 

 investigation as to their power of movement, the 

 way in which the}' are affected b}' gravitation, the 

 influence of light, and other forces. 



The experiments of Darwin and other scientists 

 have revealed very singular facts about the move- 

 ments of plants. The term used to describe their 

 motion is one we must learn, as it frequently appears 

 in botanical works. Circumnutation we may trans- 

 late as wavering around, and it well describes the 

 curious wa\' in which rootlets, for instance, are 

 alwaj's moving slowl)' from one side to the other, 

 describing a kind of oval zig-zag track through the 

 earth. The fibres appear to ha\e a discriminating 

 power, enabling them to choose convenient crevices 

 through which to penetrate hard soil, to avoid stone, 

 and to seek out any attractive food which lies in 

 their wa)'. 



As soon as roots emerge from the seed the}' at 

 once turn from the light and seek to bury them- 

 selves in the earth; the i)lumule from which the 

 leaves will spring has exactl}- the re\'erse tendency. 



