50 



JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



which climbs by means of its leaf-stalks. This plate was begun on 

 May 17 and took sixteen days. Photographs were taken at forty-minute 

 intervals during the day up to 11 p.m. Each jerk, which may have been 

 noticed when watching this on the screen, represents a night. I had no 

 mechanical method of taking the photographs, so that the period between 

 11 P.M. and 6 a.m. is not represented. I have a plate of Sparmmmia 

 africana in which the night gaps are only four and a half hours, as 

 I began at 4.30 in the morning ; but one's energy is not always equal to 

 keeping this up for three weeks at a time. 



I began photographing the Maurandya when there was only one small 

 leaf developed ; at the end of the three weeks two leaves had grown and 

 finally clasped the support. 



When the photographs are thrown on the screen, one is able to watch 

 the many curious movements : the circumnutation of the apex of the 

 stem and the gyrations of the leaves themselves ; sometimes these turn 

 completely upside down ; then one sees them clasp the stem, let go their 

 hold, the leaf-stalk grows in length, and the process is repeated till the 

 final clasp is made. 



Plate of a Humble-Bee on a Scabious. — This plate differs from the 

 other plates in having been taken more like an ordinary animated photo- 

 graph. The movements of the bee are only slightly hurried up, giving 

 her an appearance of almost feverish activity for a humble-bee. 



The plate was taken in the garden in July ; the wind presented a new 

 difficulty, as the flower blew out of focus several times. The bees had 

 been very busy on the Scabious flowers, so I took out my machine and 

 focussed a flower, then put in the plate, and was fortunate to find a bee 

 still at work. I took time exposures of her, one after the other, as quickly 

 as I could turn the handle ; the noise of the machine seemed rather to be 

 attractive than otherwise. The unusual hum attracted two of her fellow- 

 workers. We see one bee alight on the flower, and after a short time fly 

 away again, and shortly afterwards a second bee comes. My original bee 

 was very accommodating, and worked away steadily from floret to floret 

 until 342 photographs had been taken, when she cleaned her hind legs 

 and flew away. 



This kind of photography is very laborious work. I have only about a 

 dozen successful plates as the result of over three years' labour ; but the 

 intimate knowledge that one gains of the plants is in itself a great reward. 

 I know those who have tried this kind of photography will at least sym- 

 pathise with my difficulties and make allowances for the imperfection of 

 the results. 



I hope in the future someone may be found to take up the work on a 

 larger scale. I shall be only too delighted to give any experimenters the 

 benefit of my experience. 



Description of Figures. 



Fig. 4. Whole plate of Fuchsia containing 350 photographs, 12 inches in 

 diameter (reduced) . 



Fig. 5. Twenty photographs enlarged from this plate selected from the series 

 of 350, of which — 



Nos. 1, 2, show a small bud on the left and an open flower. 



