Consciousness in Plants. 333 



held fast by the tentacles of the leaves. Next, the flies were 

 removed three-quarters of an inch further from the leaves, 

 but the latter, even though bent away from the direction of 

 the light, failed to reach them at this distance. What was it 

 that induced the leaves to stretch in the direction of the flies ? 

 Had the sun been shining from that side, it might be said 

 that the movement of the leaves was influenced by its light 

 and heat, for plants as a general rule turn toward that part 

 of the heavens where these energies are the most effective. It 

 cannot be that they were produced by some emanation of 

 moisture from the bodies of the flies, or by any influence that 

 might be exercised by the vibratory movements of their 

 wings. No vain imaginings of such character will suffice for 

 their explanation. The energy necessary to explain this 

 phenomenon must come from within the leaves themselves. 

 There was felt within them a desire for food, and it was this 

 desire that led the leaves to bend away from the light and in 

 the direction of the objects whose presence created in them 

 that sensation. But how they were able, in the absence of 

 any visible sense-organs, to determine the presence of these 

 objects, is difficult to surmise. That they are sensitive to 

 contact is generally conceded. And in them, no doubt, the 

 sense of touch is keenly developed. Granting this to be the 

 truth, then they see, as a blind man sees, by the sense of 

 feeling. Currents of air, established by the vibration of the 

 insect's wings, impinging upon the epidermis of the leaves, 

 affect the cells beneath, and a nervous influence is started, 

 guided by some central agency, of which we know nothing, 

 causing the leaves to bend in the proper direction. But why 

 the leaves do not thus bend when impinged upon by currents 

 other than those produced by insects, I am unable to say. 

 Even as a blind man, though deaf, is able through the sense 

 of touch to discriminate moving objects by the currents of air 

 they excite, so it may be presumed that the leaves of Drosera 

 are endowed with the same wonderful and intelligent capac- 

 ity. Such a feeling once experienced would be apt to be 



