84: INDIAN CORN. 



the earth, and away from each other, spreading them- 

 selves in every direction, and penetrating many thou- 

 sand cubic inches of soil, in quest of nutriment to 

 satiate a voracious appetite that began with their 

 existence, and will only be extinguished at their death. 

 The natural proclivity of the roots of plants to 

 push their way into congenial darkness, and of the 

 stem to seek the presence of the light, may be illus- 

 trated by a simple experiment. One, among several 

 tried by the writer, for the purpose of observing the 

 early tendencies of germination, gave a very clear re- 

 sult. Having planted some grains of maize in glass 

 jars filled with earth, the kernels being arranged 

 against the side of the glass, one of these jars was 

 placed in a dark room, and the other exposed to the 

 light of a window. 



. After an interval of about thirty-six hours the 

 roots began to show themselves, and after another 

 brief interval the stems made their appearance. 

 The only peculiarity about the latter was, that in 

 the jar exposed to the light, they assumed, before 

 reaching the surface of the soil, the green tint pe- 

 culiar to the stalk and leaf above ground, while in 

 the other, they remained nearly white after rising 

 above the soil. In the jar from which the light had 

 been excluded, the roots formed rapidly and abun- 

 dantly against the side of the glass, while in the other 

 jar they retreated from the glass almost in a direct 

 line, evidently shunning the light, and seeking to hide 

 themselves in the recesses of the soil. 



When in the progress of its growth, the stem of 



