98 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 
The scientific staff of the United States Weather 
Bureau is continually seeking to improve its ef- 
ficiency, and there is little doubt that, at no dis- 
tant date, it will adopt the novel and efficient 
method already in use in London, of forecasting 
the weather by means of the weather-plant (Abrus 
precatorius). A number of scientists believe that 
by means of this augural plant it will be compara- 
tively easy to predict cyclones, hurricanes, torna- 
does, earthquakes, and even volcanic eruptions. 
Botanists have long been aware of the fact that 
by close observation of the leaves of this plant- 
prophet the condition of the weather may be cor- 
rectly foreshown. This plant is so keenly sensitive 
to all forms of electrical and magnetic influences 
that even the slightest change in temperature 
is immediately discernible by the movement of 
the leaves of the plant, whose prophetic quali- 
ties were first brought into prominence by an Aus- 
trian baron, Professor Nowack. THis discoveries 
were made known to the public about twenty-five 
years ago, when specimens of the plant were shown 
and weather predictions made for two days in ad- 
vance. Se very accurate were most of these fore- 
casts, that not only botanists but the leading scien- 
tific thinkers of the world became interested. Both 
Germany and Austria took up the matter; and 
