34 THE NATURE AND WORK OF PLANTS 



vert the pot, and sprinkle the leaves with water 

 four or five times in an hour. Does it recover 

 from wilting ? Place the plant upright and water 

 soil copiously : note result. Eepeat the test with 

 other plants and determine the matter fully. Can 

 a plant absorb water from the air in sufficient 

 quantity for its needs through its leaves? 



Still another method for testing the capacity of 

 the leaf for absorbing water consists in floating a 

 wilted leaf of the fuchsia or begonia in a vessel 

 of water, with the upper surface downward, and 

 noting results. 



37. The manner in which root-hairs take up 

 liquids. If you were to place some water on one 

 side of a piece of wet parchment, and some sugar 

 on the opposite side, it would be seen that the 

 water would go through the parchment to the 

 sugar in a very short time. It is by a similar 

 action that root-hairs take water from the soil. 

 The root-hair has the form of the finger of a glove 

 with the walls made of parchment. It is lined 

 with living matter, and is filled with water contain- 

 ing sugar and acids. When the hair touches the 

 thin film of water surrounding the particles of soil 



