394 THE UNIVERSE. 



weighing only five drachms and a half, distilled each day 

 an ounce and three drachms of water ; that is to say, it 

 transpired double its weight in twenty-four hours. It is 

 needless to say that this was a result which was far from 

 being expected. 



When, on a burning summer day, exhausted and stream- 

 ing with perspiration, we see in the by-nook of a parterre 

 the garden sunflower, we admire its heavy floral crown, 



183. Transpiration in Plants. Guettard's experiment. 



turned towards the luminary which it ceaselessly accom- 

 panies in its course, and its ample and motionless leaves ; 

 but this apparent calm veils a most unexpected vital en- 

 ergy. 



Who, indeed, would think that the perspiration exhaled 

 by the leaves of the plant is more copious than that which 

 moistens our foreheads ? Yet science has proved this ; after 



