THE FLOWERS. 157 
luminous while dry, became so after it had been 
wrapped in a wet cloth for some little time. The 
piece then shone in the dark like a piece of phos- 
phorus, or perhaps with more paleness of light, 
more like dead fish or rotten wood. Dr. Lindley 
says: ‘‘ We advise gardeners to be on the look- 
out for this phenomenon, and to examine all such 
root-stocks as they may have in their possession, 
in the hope of finding it. Plants habitually 
luminous, and constantly so at night, and retain- 
ing their properties years after they are dead, and 
capable of being cultivated as this Madras plant 
most certainly is, would form quite a new feature 
in our gardens, and are well worth any degree of 
trouble that may attend their discovery.” 
Botanists have not come to any agreement yet 
as to the causes of luminosity in plants. The 
light of decaying wood is due to chemical decom- 
position, but it does not appear that the instances 
of luminosity just narrated are to be explained 
in the same way. It has been supposed that 
occasionally they are connected with electricity. 
Our next visit to the tree must be by daylight, 
if we would learn anything of the functions of 
those sweet-smelling organs, the flowers. 
