6 ELECTRICAL STRUCTURE AND 



potential ; that nerve-force is generated in the body with 

 each inspiration, and that the nerve-impulse is neuro- 

 electrical and not chemical. If that is so, and it cannot 

 successfully be disputed, it may reasonably be assumed 

 that in all probability electricity plays a part in the 

 vegetable as well as in the animal world. Investigation 

 has shown the soundness of this theory, as I hope to be 

 able to prove, and further research at the hands of men 

 more capable than myself may lead to far-reaching 

 consequences in the direction of an advancement of our 

 knowledge of practical horticulture and floriculture. 



Briefly, the conclusions at which I have arrived are as 

 follows : 



(1) Everything living, whether animal or vegetable, 



has a well-defined electrical system ; the non- 

 living possessing capacity only ; and that only 

 in conjunction with moisture. 



(2) Broadly speaking, the edible part of a fruit or 



vegetable is the positive element, or that part 

 which yields a positive galvanometric reaction. 



(3) Dry earth is a bad conductor of electricity, and 



therefore water is required as an electrolyte as 

 well as being necessary in the formation of 

 protoplasm, etc. 



(4) Every tree, shrub, plant, fruit, vegetable, tuber, 



and seed is an electrical cell, differing from cells 

 made by human agency in that it cannot be 

 polarised or discharged so long as it remains 

 structurally perfect. 



(5) The skin, peel, rind, or jacket of fruits and vege- 



tables is of the nature of an insulating substance 

 primarily designed for the conservation of their 

 electrical energy. 



(6) The electro-motive force of them all is the same ; 



the current varying in accordance with Ohm's 



v 

 law, i.e., C = , where R = the internal resistance. 



