THE CUCKOO-PINT. 153 
to make a thermometer placed inside the fold at 
the bottom of the flower, rise to the temperature 
of 121°, while the warmth of the external air was 
but 66°. M. de Saussure, in some experiments 
on the flowers of the gourd, Bignonia, and others, 
found the same results in smaller quantities ; and 
others have with several other plants obtained an 
accumulation of similar facts. 
As must be evident, the heat disengaged is 
soon lost in the air; the reader, therefore, must 
not feel disappointed if he cannot succeed in 
detecting it. The common Arum, or “ Cuckoo 
Pint,” or as children call it, ‘‘ Lords and Ladies,” 
very common on every hedge-bank, seems to offer 
the best chance of success; but he will require 
a very delicate thermometer even then, to find 
out any notable increase of warmth in the flower, 
and care must be taken that the experiment is 
made just at the right time, when the flower is 
expanding. Perhaps, if a fold or two of fine 
flannel were wrapped around the flower, the little 
thermometer being carefully plunged into the 
heart of the flower, the rise of the mercury might 
be made more apparent, as this would prevent 
the external air from cooling the plant. 
