SLEEP OF PLANTS. 193 



to his great surprise, he found his flowers just where 

 they had been the day before. He took his gar- 

 dener therefore again in the evening to look at 

 them; they were not to be seen; but the next 

 morning he found them again, looking as fresh as 

 ever. The gardener said, " These cannot be the 

 same flowers; they must have blown since:" but 

 Linnaeus himself was not so easily satisfied. As soon 

 as it was dark he visited the plant once more; and 

 lifting up the leaves, one by one, he found the two 

 flowers folded up under them, and so closely con- 

 cealed, that it was impossible, at first sight, to dis- 

 cover where they were. This led him to pay atten- 

 tion to other plants of the same tribe; and he had 

 the satisfaction to find that they all possessed the 

 property of closing their flowers, more or less, at 

 night. For want of a better term, he called this 

 the " Sleep of Plants." 



Do you think you can find the germen or seed- 

 vessel, of the plant in your hand ? 



EDWARD. 

 I believe I can ; but it is not very distinct 



MOTHER. 



You will find it more so in the flowers that have 

 shed their petals; but for the unripe ones you must 

 use your magnifying-glass. 

 o 



