Appendix 



Historical Resume' 

 (Verhandulungeji Des Botanischen Vereins 1873, page 13 

 by Dr . I . Urban ) 



The tripping ir.echanism of alfalfa flowers has been 

 known to a limited number of biological investigators for 

 a considerable time. 



The first reference that we have to the explosive 

 mechanism in the flowers of Medicagc sativa and of other 

 leguminous plants is a statement by Urban, that the tripp- 

 ing, of these flowers was known in Linneus ' time. 



Medicago I'lowers Tripping Historical Resume' 



(Physiologie Vegetable Vol. 2 p 548 A. P. deCondolle 

 1832) 



In 1832 in his book on The Physiology of Plants, de 



Candolle gave a brief description of the tripping phenomjia 



He said "Certain corolla contribute in an indirect way to 



fertilization; thus the pieces of the corolla, of Indigo- 



fera and some lucernes are fixed one to the other by a 



kind a hook. "When their development is accomplished these 



hooks are detached; the carina no longer fixed is warped 



elastically and stamps a blow upon the sheaf of stamens 



which determine the fall of the pollen." 



(60) 



