I THE MICROSCOPE AND PLANT LIFE 



leaf is divided into a number of divisions called cells ; 

 this name has been handed down from the very early 

 days of the microscope, because of a supposed re- 

 semblance to the cells in a bee's honey comb. In 

 each cell we shall see signs of activity, the little 

 round grains of chlorophyll are there, but instead 

 of being stationary, as in the cabbage leaf, they are 

 slowly moving round the walls of each cell. In 

 reality they are carried along in the stream of living 

 matter within the cell. It is a wonderful sight and 

 brings home to the observer very forcibly a fact 

 which is liable to be forgotten, that the plant is 

 just as much a living being as an animal. Perhaps 

 our experiment will not succeed at the first attempt, 

 then we must try again; maybe we have been too 

 rough in detaching the leaf or we have not kept it 

 sufficiently warm. Sometimes the movement may 

 be started by slightly warming the slide over a 

 ' flame; too much heat, of course, will kill the 

 I leaf. 



■■ We shall see this green colouring matter over and 



d over again in our botanical studies, in fact it is found 



1 in all manner of situations, in leaf and stem. Very 



i often its colour is hidden by sap of another colour, 



as for instance in copper beech leaves or in the 



brown seaweeds. Chlorophyll dissolves in alcohol, 



t however, and this affords us a ready means of 



detecting its presence though we cannot see its green 



colour. If we boil any leaf, suspected of containing 



clilorophyll, in alcohol we shall obtain a solution 



with rather peculiar properties because, when held 



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