metallic vessel near the bell-glass, from which ves- 

 sel issued a fine stream of water. The flow of 

 water electrified the vessel, and the current passed 

 down the wire and was dispersed within the bell- 

 glass. Thus one flower-pot, with its imbedded 

 corn, received a constant supply of electricity, 

 while the other received none. It was soon noticed 

 that the plants in the electrified air were growing 

 faster than the others. In ten days, the former 

 were ten centimetres high, while the latter were but 

 eight. 



These experiments were largely repeated and 

 abundantly confirmed, yet there were experiment- 

 ers who reported contradictory results. Among 

 them was Ingenhouss, a high authority in vegetable 

 physiology in his time (1787). His denial that 

 electricity exerted a beneficial influence upon 

 vegetation very much chilled the enthusiasm of 

 those who were experimenting; but still the experi- 

 ments were not discontinued. 



Especially interested and active became Mr. 

 Selim Lemstrom, of University of Helsingfors, who 

 had noticed that in Lapland and in Spitzbergen 

 plants grew with wonderful rapidity during the 

 short polar summer, and their flowers were more 

 brightly colored, and, if they were cereals, yielded 

 surprisingly large crops. He attributed this to the 

 fact that atmospheric electricity was more abundant 

 in the polar regions than elsewhere; he knew that 

 these regions are the peculiar homes of the aurora 

 borealis, a generally conceded electric phenom- 

 enon. Lemstrom planted seeds in pots, and put 



