28 



LIFE, IN ITS LOWER FORMS. 



actions, still more unaccountable than those jast noticed, 

 are thus described by the younger Linnaeus ? " No sooner 

 had the plants raised from seed acquired their ternate 

 leaves, than they began to be in motion in every direc- 

 tion : this movement did not cease during the whole 

 course of their vegetation, nor were they observant of any 

 time, order, or direction : one leaflet frequently revolved, 

 while the other on the same petiole was quiescent ; some- 

 times a few leaflets only were in motion, then almost ail 

 of them would be in movement at once ; the whole plant 

 was very seldom agitated, and that only during the first 

 year." These motions, which are little dancings or start- 

 ing^ to and fro, are much more lively in the native country 

 of the plant than in our best stoves. What is curious is, 

 that if the leaflets be held between the fingers for a short 

 time, and thus prevented from moving, immediately on 

 their release they dance with renewed rapidity, as if to 

 make up for the lost time. 



All these, however, are examples of motions in the organs 

 of plants ; but there are not wanting instances of sponta- 

 neous locomotion. The Oscillatorics, a tribe of minute 

 plants among the Conferva, derive their name from the 

 spontaneous movements which they display. They oscillate 

 to the right and left, and shift their position with consi- 

 derable rapidity, often travelling ten times their own length 

 in a few hours, and that when every precaution has been 

 taken to prevent agitation of the water in which they 

 grow, and to exclude the influence of external agents. 

 The motion of these vegetable tubes has a writhing, 

 twisting, undulating, creeping character • almost identical 

 with that of animal movement. 



