156 CATALEPSY. [BOOK n. 



researches have led him to a very different conclusion. He 

 found that the non-elasticity of the flower-stalk, when moved 

 horizontally, exists only so long as it adheres to the stem, 

 and that when it is cut off it indicates abundant elasticity in 

 all directions ; and the eventual result of his inquiries was, 

 that, after all, the catalepsy of this plant is only sham. I now 

 quote the author literally. " In fact, if the flower-stalk is 

 elastic when cut off, why should it be cataleptic while adhering 

 to the stem ? I therefore removed from a stem, with very 

 sharp scissors, a bract quite down to its base ; I then turned 

 the flower to the right, when it sprang back to the left, and 

 vice versa ; so that under these circumstances the elasticity 

 was restored, and the catalepsy gone. This curious experi- 

 ment, the precise and positive result of which was really 

 surprising, always succeeded ; and if an observer were not to 

 push his inquiries any further, he would conclude that the 

 phenomenon is dependent upon the bracts ; it will be seen 

 that in point of fact there is no catalepsy at all. 



Other experiments showed that by cutting away half a 

 bract, dividing it from the point to the base through the 

 midrib, the flower recovered its elasticity on the side whence 

 the bract was removed, but remained destitute of it on the 

 side where the bract was uninjured ; so that by such a con- 

 trivance a flower can be brought into a state of elasticity 

 on one side, and of catalepsy on the other ! It is, how- 

 ever, necessary to cut away the bract down to the point 

 of its insertion, otherwise the apparent catalepsy is not 

 destroyed. 



M. Morren observes that these curious phenomena are 

 wholly dependent upon the peculiar arrangement and propor- 

 tion of the flower-stalks and bracts, and that they are merely 

 mechanical. It appears that each pedicel reposes in a bract 

 channelled like a gutter, and that its length is a trifle more 

 than half the breadth of the bract at its base, and it is in this cir- 

 cumstance that the whole secret lies. The bract is much more 

 rigid than the flower-stalk, is immoveable, and is placed close 

 to the flower ; when the flower is turned to one side, the base 

 of the calyx, which forms a projection above the flower-stalk, 

 slips over the edge of the bract, catches there, and the force 



