i THE PLANT AND WATER 7 



the bottle from the sun's rays. In a short time you 

 will notice that the water is falling in the side tube, 

 showing that the plant is rapidly drawing up water. 

 You will find that the plant will live for some days, 

 the water sinking meanwhile lower and lower in the 

 tube and in the bottle. 



The plant is evidently then taking up a great deal 

 of water, and constantly doing so. Where does this 

 water go to ? Does it remain in the plant, or pass 

 off into the air 2 



We can easily find out if the water remains in the 

 plant or not, by weighing the plant and bottle full 

 of water at the beginning of the experiment, and 

 again at the end of the experiment. If it weighs 

 the same at the end as it did at the beginning, the 

 water has evidently passed from the bottle into the 

 plant and stayed there. If it weighs less, the water 

 must be in some way escaping from the plant. 



The Water is passing off from the Plant into 

 the Air by Openings in the Leaves 



Experiment 6 



In order to find this out, we can repeat the last 

 experiment in a slightly different way. Break a 

 small branch covered with leaves from a bush, and 

 take a wide -mouthed bottle fitted with a cork. 

 Drill a hole in the cork large enough for the branch 



