Consciousness tn Plants. 333 
held fast by the tentacles of the leaves. Next, the flies were 
removed three-quarters of an inch further from the leaves, 
but the latter, even though bent away from the direction of 
the light, failed to reach them at this distance. What was it 
that induced the leaves to stretch in the direction of the flies ? 
Had the sun been shining from that side, it might be said 
that the movement of the leaves was influenced by its light 
and heat, for plants as a general rule turn toward that part 
of the heavens where these energies are the most effective. It 
cannot be that they were produced by some emanation of 
moisture from the bodies of the flies, or by any influence that 
might be exercised by the vibratory movements of their 
wings. No vain imaginings of such character will suffice for 
their explanation. The energy necessary to explain this 
phenomenon must come from within the leaves themselves. 
There was felt within them a desire for food, and it was this 
desire that led the leaves to bend away from the light and in 
the direction of the objects whose presence created in them 
that sensation. But how they were able, in the absence of 
any visible sense-organs, to determine the presence of these 
objects, is difficult to surmise. That they are sensitive to 
contact is generally conceded. And in them, no doubt, the 
sense of touch is keenly developed. Granting this to be the 
truth, then they see, as a blind man sees, by the sense of 
feeling. Currents of air, established by the vibration of the 
insect’s wings, impinging upon the epidermis of the leaves, 
affect the cells beneath, and a nervous influence is started, 
guided by some central agency, of which we know nothing, 
causing the leaves to bend in the proper direction. But why 
the leaves do not thus bend when impinged upon by currents 
other than those produced by insects, I am unable to say. 
Even as a blind man, though deaf, is able through the sense 
of touch to discriminate moving objects by the currents of air 
they excite, so it may be presumed that the leaves of Drosera 
are endowed with the same wonderful and intelligent capac- 
ity. Such a feeling once experienced would be apt to be 
