^{)t iTavmcv'fl iHontl)lL) llisitov. 



167 



nl)?iracily. Wlio, for exaiunle, could wiliies-s an 

 o.scillaioiinl (ilaiiieiit wri<.'i;lc itbcll' out of a plalc, 

 iirul move tovNaids a IL'lit willi an iiivilicilik^ |iei- 

 liiiacily, and t'oidd It-cl a do(d)l ilial il |>o.-ssl\skimI 

 tin: insiinrt llial lii:iit was j;()od for it ; in olxnli- 

 I'ncH to «lncl! iin|iMlso, it was usiiii; ovovy eflort 

 in ils |Hi«>-r to roarli it? I'lacc liy its .--ide a 

 linndilp aniinalcuU', \%liicli, with niovt'iniMits of 

 erjual vivacity, daiii'o liillicr and lliilljcr in it:; na- 

 tive clcnicnl, and li'l scicnci; pnl licr iiniicr n|ion 

 till' jioint \vli<;if sonsation ceases on tlic one side, 

 and some new liicnlly connnonces on tlie other. 



Take a Inniii'd sinvey <>!' the .slriliiiii; inovo- 

 nienls eiMnneraled in a loiiner |pa|ier. Here aro 

 pUriils HiMin;.' cdoso their (Udicato organs liiMn 

 the cohl eveninj; aij', e.\|iandini;' them ajraiii to 

 the genial sindieain ; lii're are plants shriidsing 

 fmni I lie dienehini; rain, or openin;.' to welcome 

 theVoli-esliiiif; shower, as their dillerent conslilii- 

 lions may sngpest; here are some castiiiir litrci- 

 l)ly oil' every inlrialer to the honey cell ; here 

 are olhcrs, ou the contrary, spreading their leafy 

 traps for the capture of such oll'enders; here are 

 n few ahashcd and shriid<ing from the touch; 

 and linally, were St. Vitus' liain'e a vegelahle 

 malady loo, here is one — the Desiuodiiuu gyrens 

 — which is decidedly a victim lo it. 



Leaving, however, the disiMission to another 

 and more helilling arena, we would proccid to 

 indicate that, pufling asiile the i|uestion of llio 

 amount of .sensatimi inv(dved in the niolions re- 

 ferreil lo, there are oilier and even more reiiiai l(- 

 ahle points of view from which to contemplate 

 ihe sul'jecl. 



There is a class of poi.soiis which may he showu 

 to operate purely ii|)on the sensation of aniniaLs, 

 causing no chemical or physical disnrganizalion 

 of llieir strnclure ; these are opium, hclladonna, 

 Prns'c acid, mix vomica, tohaccn, &c. II, now, 

 it can he shown that these agents act in a dele- 

 terious manner upon plants, we have the pie- 

 Kiiinplive evidence of strong analogy in support 

 of the idea of vegetahle sensation. i\I. iMarcet 

 has set the question at rest. l''iom his e.\peri- 

 nieiits it has been Ibund that, even in minute 

 quantities, the poisons specified are destrnelive 

 to vegetable life. If a leaf of the sensitive plant 

 is cm utt, and placed in pure water, it curls up 

 its leallets, but in a short time lliey again ex- 

 pand, and retain their irrilahility for several dajs, 

 expanding and shrinking up as on thu plant it- 

 scU; when touched with the linger or wilh a 

 needle ; but if another leaf is cut oil', and plaee<l 

 upon \\ater, lo uhich a solnlion id' hellailomgi 

 has been added, the leaflets collapse, and siibse- 

 qnenily expand; but after this it seems paraliz- 

 ed — ils lill^ is e.xiinct, ami even if it is then put 

 into pure water, it no longer can be made to con- 

 tract, li^leclricity, extreme cold, mineral pois- 

 ons, arsenic, &(•., are iirodiiclive of similar conse- 

 quences, livery one is familiar w ilh that simple 

 experiment, the fumigation of a rose tree, lo de- 

 stroy the insects which inlt^sl it. It aftijrils us 

 an inslaiiceof the acliou of a narcolic poison uol 

 only upon the insect, hut also upon the plant it- 

 sell! The little creatures tumble from the 

 bramdies, stnpitied w ilh the tobacco fumes. And 

 at the same time il may be observed that the 

 leaves of the rose droop, some of Ihe youngest 

 and lendere>l branches hanging down, and onlv 

 recovering, after exposure to a pure alUKisphere, 

 their former position and healthy aspect. The 

 eftect of these poisons obviously indicates that 

 all plants pos.sess an occult princiide, having a 

 certain analogy to sensation. It is fouud, also, 

 that when certain chenfical substances in solu- 

 tion are presented to their roots, the foreign mat- 

 ter is carried into the ciroiilating system of the 

 plant, but is almost invariably, if it is uiisnilable 

 for ils nutrition or for the formation of ils secre- 

 tions, carried down again, and thrown off by ihe 

 roots. Even in the selection of its proper fnod 

 by the debcale s|ioiigiule of the root, it would 

 Beem as if some kind of discerning liicidty \\ere 

 in operation, which at .-,ny rate may be compared 

 to animal instinct. 



The struggle which plants growing in a cellar 

 or darUened room make towards the light, how- 

 ever small the glimmer, that may pierci; the d.nk- 

 ness, and the sedulous manner in which the rail- 

 i(de and plumule of the germ respecfully avoid 

 and seek the same iiilluence, seem to speak in 

 similar language. Every one who has watched 

 the growth of the tendril of the vine, or the 

 stem of the creeping-plaut, must have observed 



thut neither take any inrns nnti! they come in 

 contact with some object .•uoiiiid w hicli they can 

 twine ; so that, up tfi a certain point, the stem 

 of the most inviUeralely-twisling plant riMiiaius 

 as straight as possible ; but at the point of con- 

 tact wilh aiiolher body, a volulion immediately 

 counnences, and thencelbrwaril it proceeds in a 

 spiral directicm around llie object held in its em- 

 hrace. In the case of the brioiiy, simple contact 

 wilh the object is not suflicieiii lo cause the 

 twisting of the stem. To prove lliis, the expeii- 

 mwiit of l^ing it with a string at a certain point 

 has been made; hut the plant made no alteiii|it 

 to twist at that point. A small weight was then 

 allaclied to the string, and the tendril iinmedi- 

 alely began lo shortiMi itself by making scneral 

 spiral turns. This seems to indicate that the ten- 

 dril of ihe briony, naturally, will iwisl only when 

 it has llio weight of the stem lo support. The 

 writer who records this experiment, and whose 

 striking phraseology is almost iudicalive of his 

 name, adils, " it is a h.-mil seeking in the dark, 

 and grasping what it has felt by ihe action of 

 muscles remote from the sensible point." 



The remarkable manner in which plants search 

 for their food, within cerl.ain limits comparable 

 lo that of animals, appears lo imply the exis- 

 tence of some higher impulse than mere fortnily. 

 The slawberry plant will ilirusl its"rnuners" 

 completely across a garden walk, where il will 

 for the first time, as it were, perceiving its object 

 to bo gained, push out roots, and form a new 

 plant. It is not uncommon to find travellers re- 

 lating the most singular freaks played by trees 

 and plants in ipiest of nutriment. Trees are 

 sometimes found which have taken root on one 

 side of a deep ravine, iiiid having cxiiansled iho 

 sterile soil on that side, have pushed foiili roots 

 completely across the abyss, which have gained 

 its opposite side, and there struck deep into more 

 fcriile ground. Plants are ofien lo be fouud 

 wlii(d) have rooted iii old walls; bul soon experi- 

 encing the want of' soil, extend long roots in 

 ihn direction of the ground, wliicb they pene- 

 trate, and then form radicles. If the roots of a 

 plant are accidentally denudeil, and there hap- 

 pens to be some moist substance, as wet nio.ss, in 

 their neighboi hood, they direct themselves to- 

 w.a-ds it, iuid evenliially succeed in reaching it. 



A modern and eminent writer nairates, that 

 'amimg the noble collection of palm-trees culti- 

 vated by the Alcssrs. Loddigc <d' Hackney, near 

 London, was one furnished svilli hooks near ihe 

 extremity of the frond, ewdcnlly designed Uir 

 nitai liing it to the branches of frees for support, 

 vvlieu growing in ils native forest. The ends of 

 the fronds were all pendent but one, which, be- 

 ing nearest lo the rafters of ihe conservatory. 

 Idled its end several feel to laslen to the rafter; 

 none of ihe other frond; altered their positions, 

 as they could not have reached the rafter had 

 they attempted to do so." What a sliiking recog- 

 nition ill the tree, of an evidently fnituilons cir- 

 cinnslance! What hut instinct could have di- 

 rected that vegetable hand to the roof fc>r its 

 su)ipoit ? .and what hut that keep pendent the 

 branches which would have sought in vain ? — 

 We may conceive a similar impulse to direct the 

 branches of the great banyan tree, when they 

 can no longer suppnrt the ponderous vegetation, 

 to send down roots which shall form at once a 

 support and a source of fresh nutriment to it, ex- 

 tending the giaut tree ill every direction around 

 the parent trniik. 



The paiidaniis, or screw-pine, so called from 

 the cork-screw-like arrangement of its leaves, 

 commonly found in Madagascar, the isle of 

 France, and the Indian Aichipetago, affords us a 

 most curious example of the self-preservalive in- 

 sliiict. The tree has somewhat the appearance 

 as if the earth had been removed from its roots, 

 leaving them dangling in the air. This arises 

 I'kuu its sending down long teiial roots for some 

 distance above lh(! ground. 'J'hese roots are pro- 

 tected .at llieir exlremiiies by a loose cup-like in- 

 vestineiit of cellular luembiane, which defends 

 the delicale lissne of the lip from any injury un- 

 til it reaches the soil, where its iim: is at an end, 

 aiid the roots then limy themselves in the earth. 

 The Irnnk of the tree is supported at some dis- 

 tance from the ground by a number of such 

 roots, and as it year by year increases in size and 

 weight, there woilhl he a risk of the downfall of 

 the whole structure were it not that, to compen- 

 sate for the increasing jionderosity of the trunk 



fresh roots are thrown out, tvhich, reaching the 

 ground, Ibrm fresh props lo the siiperslriicture, 

 acliiig also as bullrcsses against the too great 

 bending of ihe tree before the wind. Kut it is 

 uorlhy of remark, iliat if the tree leans to one 

 side, endangering ils safely dining the next 

 sioriii, it puts out I (lots, at some distance ahovo 

 all the rest, on the inclining side, which reach 

 the earlli, and form supports to the trunk per- 

 fectly analogous in llieir intenliou .and use to the 

 shores ami limher-Wdik used by liiimau archi- 

 lec-ls to prop up a building in danger ul' falling. 



I'lanis, in a l<;w iiislaiices, wniild ajipear as if 

 endowed wilh a care for llieir (dl'spriiig. Nol to 

 emmieraie the mechanical coiilrivaiiccs for this 

 end, v\ liich do not liidoug to oiir subject, the 

 m.nigrove, for example, retains its berries until 

 they are firmly rooted by its side, wluui the pa- 

 rental connexion is at an end. This is true al.so 

 of other plants, whose drooping flowers would 

 dro|) the ripened seed at the piM'iod id' its matii- 

 raliou, orecl their steins, as if to prevent their 

 seeds falling out. 



Vi'getable instinct seems also to find an illus- 

 tration in the adaptability of plants lo difll^rent 

 climates. It is well known that plants brought 

 from tropical countiii;s, alier a little time inure 

 lliemselves lo the allrred circumslances of the 

 soil and KMiiperalure of temperate latitudes: the 

 most lamiliar instances are the potato anil the 

 dahlia, both natives of tropical climates. Kalm, 

 one of Ihe disciples (d' Liunoeus, relates that ap- 

 ple-trees sent from this country to New Knglaiul 

 blossomed for a few years too early for that cli- 

 mate, and bore no fruit, but after that learnt to 

 accommodale themselves to their new situation. 

 It is a fact, that seeds and roots brought from 

 soiilhern latitudes germinate in onr country 

 sooner than others brought from more noiihern 

 ones — although ex|iosed to equal degrees of tem- 

 perature — owing lo llieir acquired habits ; but 

 these in time fidi in with the ne\v' condilions. 



To lake a concluding glance at the subject. It 

 is inanifeslly impossihie in this pltice, as indeed 

 it would also he inappropriate, to do more than 

 collect a liL'w scattered inslances of phenomena 

 of daily occurrence in the vegetable world which 

 seem to point to the possession of a ci'ilaiii 

 amount of sensation by them. In an inquiring^ 

 spirit we may ask the nature ;md the cause of 

 these, while it would be presumption to pro- 

 nounce a decided opinion upon the question. It 

 is reserved for modern science lo link these phe- 

 nomena logellier, and refer lliem lo their |n-oper 

 cause; ours is the more limnble attempt to awak- 

 en an interest, which may stimulate further and 

 deeper research. 



But while the jiresent state of otir iiiforniation 

 forbids all dogmatizing upon the subject, we are 

 bv no means precluded from the formalion of a 

 strong and not unreasonable supposition that 

 some such faculty as sensation, in a low, and 

 often in an obscure degree, appears to exhibit in 

 some, if not.aclnally in all the examples detailed. 

 Unlil tlie contrary is proved, let us be content 

 wilh this, wirKdi,"al all events, is an ennobling 

 and ex.dling belief; it is one which elevates our 

 concepiions of the great Creator's benevolence 

 in all its operations; and whether we agree or 

 not with Wordswoilh — 



" And 'lis my ftiitli that every flower 

 Eiijftys the iiir il breathes" — 



Iherecan he no qneslion that the subject demands 

 considerably more attention and consideration 

 than it has iiilherlo received. 



Were wo to indulge in the dreams of poetic 

 imaginings, we might expand onr views, and 

 conceive— probably not allngeiher wilhonl truth, 

 even where no more prominent indications of 

 vcuetable instinct and sensation exist than are to 

 he found in the fresh luxuriance of a thriving 

 vegetation — that there is a world of sentient 

 creatures delighting in the balmy rain, gladly 

 welcoming the reinniing sun, and silently rest- 

 ing during the shades of night; rejoicing in a 

 measure of happiness which, if not strictly 

 comparable with that of higher beings, yet is all 

 good of its kind, and adds its humble voice to 

 the hourly anthem ofl^eied by creation to creative 

 love. 



In bringing the subject to a close we may bor- 

 row the worils of an author before cited, and, 

 while imuilling to express a decided opinion tip- 

 on ihe subject, we may still confess our own 

 stiong inclination to his beiref:— "If the daisy, 



