138 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



Marigold (Calendula vulgaris), African Marigold (Tagetes erecta), Martagon 

 Lily (Lilium martagori), and Sunflower (Hdianthus) are also highly luminous. 

 The remarkable scintillations first observed by Christina Linne have 

 now been witnessed by so many credible and competent observers, that 

 it is singular their reality should be longer doubted. M. Haggren, a 

 Swedish naturalist, observed them frequently, and when at work in his 

 garden employed a man to watch the flowers and to make signals whenever 



the flashes occurred. They 

 both saw the light con- 

 stantly, ' and at the same 

 moment, playing round the 

 flowerheads of the Mari- 

 gold. This was in the 

 months of July and August, 

 the phosphorescence being 

 only seen at sunset or for 

 half an hour after, and never 

 on rainy days or when the 

 air was loaded with vapour. 

 A microscopic examination 

 of some of the flowers, to 

 discover whether some small 

 insects or phosphoric worms 

 might not be the cause of 

 the light, soon convinced 

 our naturalist that such a 

 theory was untenable. 

 Nothing of the kind was 

 found, and he came to the 

 conclusion that the flashes 

 were electric. His own 

 theory, however, that the 

 electric light was caused by 

 the pollen of the florets, 

 which in flying off was scat- 

 tered upon the petals, is 

 hardly to be taken seriously. 



In the year 1835 Mr. J. R. Trimmer, of Brentford, was an eye-witness 

 of the phenomenon, of which he sent an account to the Magazine of 

 Botany. In this case, also, everything points to electricity as the exciting 

 cause. The writer was walking in his garden in the. evening, where many 

 Nasturtiums were in bloom, his thoughts far away from the subject of 

 phosphorescence, when vivid flashes from those flowers attracted his notice. 

 The flashes were the most brilliant he had ever observed, and at the 



Photo by} [S. L. 



FIG. 174. THE SOLDANELLA (Soldanella alpina). 



This pretty alpine plant is shown under the snow, which by its own 

 evolution of heat it is able to melt, and so make its way to the light. 

 EUROPEAN ALPS. 



