1895.] Development of Vegetable Physiology. 383 
Venus’s fly-trap, and the petals of certain orchids excite the 
wonder of the casual beholder, most plant organs move too 
slowly to be readily detected without mechanical magnifica- 
tion. This does not prove a detraction to the interest of the 
subject, however, as it has led to the invention of ingenious 
and complicated machines, whose numerous wheels and bands 
inspire a sense of importance, particularly appealing to a large 
class of persons in this age of machinery, and constituting an 
element in securing favorable attention from the public, while 
it adds a charm to the work of the investigator, rivaling that 
of the microscope. It is yet but the dawning of day for the 
display of mechanical contrivances as aids to botanical re- 
search, and the future gives promise of notable achievements. 
he names of Barnes, Anderson, Stevens, Stone, Golden, 
Thomas, Frost, and Arthur at present are representative of 
the American inventive spirit in botany. The most perfect 
and interesting pieces of apparatus yet turned out by them em- 
brace Frost’s and Golden’s auxanometers for recording the in- 
crease in length or thickness of growing organs, Thomas’s 
apparatus for recording the variation in pressure of sap result- 
ing from root action, Anderson’s automatic balance for regis- 
tering the rate and amount of change in the weight of an ob- | 
ject, used in studying transpiration and growth, and Arthur's 
clinostat for neutralizing the action of gravity and light, and 
his centrifugal apparatus for substituting mechanical force for 
that of gravity. 
While having in mind the public interest in our science, it 
May be well to notice the very small basis of information on 
which this interest is founded. Only the vaguest notions are 
Current regarding the nutrition of plants, the uses of the 
leaves, the movements of sap, the purposes of color, and the 
means by which new positions are assumed. This ignorance 
is primarily due, of course, to the same cause which has so 
long delayed the development of the science upon the tech- 
nical side: the fact that almost nothing can be learned of the 
functions of plants from direct observation. In regard to the 
physiology of animals, even the lowest, much may be inferred 
y observing their behavior, and analyzing the phenomena 
from a human standpoint, but there are no obvious similar- 
ities between plants and the higher animals, and it is neces- 
Sary to resort to careful experimentation and profound study 
to arrive at a fair understanding of the vital actions of plants. 
