M 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. Repeat 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 



