32 DESIGN. 



ous to the early stages of vegetation, Mr. Hunt believes that, 

 in the more advanced periods of growth, they become essential 

 to the formation of woody fibre. 



(2.) Light which has permeated red media. Heat rays. — 

 Germination, — if the seeds are very carefully watered, and a 

 sufficient quantity of water is added to supply the deficiency of 

 the increased evaporation, — will take place here. The plant is 

 not, however, of a healthy character, and, generally speaking, 

 the leaves are partially blanched, showing that th^ production 

 of chlorophyl is prevented. Most plants, instead of bending 

 towards red light, as they do towards white light, bend from it 

 in a very remarkable manner. Plants, in a flowering condition, 

 may be preserved for a much longer time, under the influence 

 of red, than under any other media ; and Mr. Hunt thinks 

 that red media are highly beneficial under the fruiting process. 



(3.) Light which has permeated blue media. Chemical rays. 

 — The rays thus separated from the heat and light rays, and 

 which Mr, Hunt has proposed to call Actimic, have the power 

 of accelerating, in a remarkable manner, the germination of seeds, 

 and the growth of the young plant. After a certain period, vary- 

 ing with nearly every plant upon which experiments have been 

 made, these rays become too stimulating, and growth proceeds 

 rapidly, without the necessary strength. The removal of the 

 plant into yellow rays, or into light which has penetrated an 

 emerald green glass, accelerates the deposition of carbon, and 

 the consequent formation of woody fibre. It was also found 

 that, under the concentrated actimic force, seeds will germinate 

 beneath the soil, at a depth in which they would not have grown 

 under natural conditions. Mr. Hunt believes that the germina- 

 tion of seeds in the spring, the flowering of plants in summer, 

 and the ripening of fruits in autumn, are dependent upon the 

 variations in the amount of actimism, or chemical influence, of 

 lio-ht and heat in the solar beam at these seasons. 



It must, however, be observed, that, although such experiments 

 have much physiological interest, the value of them is greatly 

 diminished by the necessarily imperfect manner in which the 

 prismatic colors are separated by artificial preparations. It is 



