ENDURANCE OF EXTREME CONDITIONS 
the loss amounted to 95 per- 
cent, but it remained alive 
and subsequently grew well 
when placed under normal 
conditions. The plant shown 
in the photograph was 11 
cm. in length at the start. 
At the time the photograph 
was taken it measured 28 
cm. Hence its gain in length 
during exposure to drought 
was 17 cm. or 150 percent. 
After nearly two years of 
this extreme drought the 
plants were placed in bottles 
(with the lower ends of the 
living portions dipping in 
water) and transferred to a 
greenhouse at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, where they 
were placed in moist soil. 
All of them grew vigorously, 
producing stems and leaves 
of normal size and appear- 
ance. 
Some of them were placed 
in a saturated atmosphere 
in which they continued to 
Fig. I. Piece of Tradescantia 
which remained for nearly two years 
without soil or water. The six 
larger leaves at the base were pres- 
ent at the start. The others were 
formed after the plant was deprived 
of water and soil. During this 
period the plant lost 89.5 percent of 
its weight while at the same time it 
gained 150 percent in length. Sub- 
sequently it was placed in a satu- 
rated atmosphere where it grew 
vigorously: finally it was submerged 
which time it was still alive. 
in running water for a month, at the end of 
