386 London Philosop Ideal Society. 



vegetable anatomy, although his own researches had com- 

 menced long prior to the appearance of their respective 

 works. 



May 14. A letter from the indefatigable Mr. T. A. 

 Knight to the President was read, describing his experi- 

 ments on the tendrils of plants, and investigating the cause 

 of their apparently rational inclination to adjoining ob- 

 jects for support. Mr. Knight tried a number of creeping 

 plants in a green-house, and also the tendrils of vines; he 

 exposed them in various positions with respect to the sua 

 or light, and found that they all invariably receded from the 

 stronger light, and attached themselves to those objects in 

 the shade, or, if no other object presented itself, to the dark 

 side of their parent stems. Hence lie was induced to con- 

 clude that the action of light on the tendrils contracted the 

 vessels on the sides exposed to it, and occasioned not only 

 the spiral convolutions, but also that tendency to fix on 

 obscured or shaded objects. On this principle he accotmted 

 for all the curious instinct-like motions of young tendrils 

 in a mamier purely mechanical, and positively denied them 

 any sensitive or elective motion whatever. 



The Society then adjourned over the holiday-week till 

 Thursday the 28th of May. 



LONDON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETV, 



The meetings of this Society in April were chiefiv oc- 

 cupied by an examination of Mr. Godwin's assertion, 

 that Gratitude is no part of Virtue, and by a Lecture on 

 Vision. 



The numerous speakers, and the variety of ingenious 

 opinions delivered and most ably supported on the former 

 interesting topic, exclude our attempting with any degree 

 of justice to present to our readers even a decision of the 

 question. However we may difler from the theories ad- 

 vanced by many firm supporters of this Society, we cannot 

 withhold our slight meed of praise for the zest of science 

 displaced by tiieir ardour in canvassing their various hypo- 

 theses ; and at the same time feel fully impressed, that it 

 is by such candid and liberal investigations of the different 

 topics of Moral Philosophy, that we shall be able to dispel 

 the gloomy and oppressive mist of scepticism, and accelerate 

 our progress to^./ard/- the meridian of perfection. 



The Lecture on Vision was delivered by Mr. T. Petti- 

 grew, and (if which we shall give a short account. He 

 bcean by observing, that prior to entering upon the physio- 

 logy 



