LETTER XIV 



Observations on Rain-drops on the surface of leaves Heavy Rain 

 Toads Frogs Toad in Greenhouse Venom of Toads Pro- 

 fessor Bucldand's experiments. 



November 1886. 



DEAR MARCO The observations you 

 made in the country on the different ways 

 that leaves receive rain-drops interested me 

 greatly. You say you found that smooth and 

 shiny-surfaced leaves retained the little beads 

 of wet for a long time, but that the dull-sur- 

 faced ones appeared to dry up very soon. I 

 confess I have never paid attention to this 

 fact, and am at a loss to account for it ; possibly 

 the dull -surfaced leaves absorb the rain a 

 great deal as it falls, like blotting-paper, the 

 plant drinking in the moisture through its 

 pores, whereas the shiny ones, being more 



