Oct. 16, 1885.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



337 



" Let knowledge gi-ow from 



ons should he addrc 



:>■ not responsille for the opinions of correspondents, 

 nces, Cheques, and Post-Ofice Orders should be made 

 ssRs. Wyman & Sons. 



ARE PLANTS SENTIENT BEINGS .' 



[i;i,-.l 1 M:.ii - :n^ :iL'u I satisfied myself that trees were an 



ottli.'ViM- I : i.it.aion, and exhibited their knowledge 



iiotL'i". :i ■ : I lis to the ground on the liillside as thev 



Tiie paniiaiui-. wliich has a creeping stem, throws downwf 

 buttress routs a> supports, and, as a remarliable illustration 

 lianian growing on the edge of a gorge threw down great support 

 roots to save itself from precipitation Into the depth below. 



Each of these plants must have been aware of the riskines: 

 its position, in taking steps to secure its safety. 



Plants are aware of injuries to their structure, and take ei 

 steps to repair them. Gash any tree, and it will at once, 

 slowly, set about repairing the mischief. Gash the pnndanus, 

 it will inevitably develop a root at the spot. T mriv lnTf nn 

 singular aflinity in the reparation of injury bi i \, . . i; il- i :ii l.i 

 and our common house-lizard, the gecko. "T1i. : < 

 it drops its tail, and its unconcern at the loss, ;ii' . 

 not the strange fact I am about to describe. Oi„- ,i;n | i ,;;, . 

 the wall a lizard with two tails ; drawing nigh, quietly, 1 saw t 

 the new tail had been pushed out on the scar of an injury, 

 Fig. 1 shows tlic curious residt. Apropos to tail-dropping, tlie i 



Fig. 1 



I-'ig. 2. 



Let us return to the plants. The following fact shows that thi \ 

 must be endowed with something approacliing siglit or smell, .i 

 very exalted touch. Train a creeper uji a threo-ioot polr. and hi ii 

 run six inches above and throw oul .xiil'iii.; t.Mihil-: ha n .' 

 another pole two inches beyond iIji | - / 

 and then mark how soon the ni u i , i 



astonished how soon the new supi"',: i, i , , ,. i,i-,wi, ai.i iipi 

 priatcd. What guided that plant ? 



Again, all plants arc aware of the ditlerencc butweeu darkness 

 audlight, and everyone is familiar with the blancliing effects oi 



ris also with tlie fact that plants in 

 ■ light. 

 ; :<-tly cognisant of pain; out here, the 



■ ■'■ ""^ >'■"• "•'- ^o undergo lh.- ■— ' ' ^--'I'ing for 



:, ; a huge ln;tiigular gash is • ■ structure 



Jill the crown of leaves, whiuii - nom the 



,.'1; next year, the poor tree i- i, ^j.; side, 



-1. ;.th the year's growth, audit ret ].:' i • I..- opposite 



.-irle, and thus, as it advances towards oM a_'.-, it- ::r:i cful stem is 



converted into a jagged zig-zag (Fig. 2). 



This serration is entirely due to the poor plant edging away from 

 tl]e cruel knife. An equally familiar illustration of the sensibility 

 nf plants to i);iin or irritation is seen in the common sensitive plant 

 ( Mimdsu s'lisifirii) which shrinks nervously from tlie faintest touch, 



Till n tin r • is the well-known irritability of Venus' fly-trap, asso- 

 ciatiil with its alleged carnivorous tendencies. These are also 

 attributed to the sticky and humble Srosera, or sun-dew. 



That the capture of insects by both plants is simply accidental, 

 and in no way contributory to their sustenance, is easily proved by 

 keeping them under glass shades, where they are as" vigorous as 

 when at large in the hothouse. 



All plants are, more or less, sensible to bad odours or irritant 

 fumes, and in their presence the Mimosa seimtiea shuts up shop at 



jr fiowt 



I used to be told at school that trees at home slied their leaves on 

 the approach of winter because the increasing cold drove inwards 

 the sap, and the leaves thus deprived of their life-blood dropped off. 



Against this theory may be urged the fact that, in India, 

 trees cast their leaves at the commencement of tlie hot weather, 

 when the tree is laden with sap. In my humble opinion, leaf- 

 shedding is simply analogous to moulting among birds ; perhaps 

 also to skin-slieilcling among reptiles and larvic. Some plants, of 

 weak i 1 1 1 . 1 ; I . I , . . 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 in apparently sensele-ss movements. The 

 leaves ,,i , ,: r li (I forget its name and am away from 



mybi.nk citation ; and we are all familiar with the 



Thr 



stribu 



mgn: 

 e desic 



:s of plan 





. k's skull, and, in the place of the e 

 ■li ruthlessly attach themselves to any 

 eed-pods of certain plants— the balsam, 

 all gardeners, and arc clearly indicative 

 itiiig the seeds. Nay, there is as much 

 which sticks its barb into the trouser of 

 -lly, which deposits its egg within reach 

 I : or in the cuckoo, which drops its egg 



estra, distinguished in some by regular 

 acacias discharge gum ; the cannabis 

 -resin in the shape of charas, a most 



'lea) not only discharges gum arable, but 

 lischarge of liquid catechu. The neem 

 times, and the dischanre is regarded as 



And sore surprised them all. 

 with all our efforts to destroy these figs 



