j?EB. 1 1894.] THE TROi^iCAL AGRICULtURISt. 531 
A telegram to the Observer Bhowed what we thought 
ot the progress o( the farther ExtenBion : the heavy 
Blips on the road and railway near the Pabs mubt 
cause a good deal of iroub.e ; but otherwise a 
great deal of the section is ready for ballasting — 
if cot bailaeted. Platelaying, however, cannot 
oommenQe it seems until the Kucunegala line ia 
disposed of, as the same woikmen are to be utilised. 
The Talawa (Happy Valley) Station will be a very 
prettily siiuated one. Our uompaniou has writ 
ten too hurriedly to do justice to all we saw 
of the most useful and commendable work pro- 
moted in the Orphanage and E^furmaiory — the 
formtr under the immedmte direction of Mr. 
Tomlinbon, and the latitr under Mr, and Mrs. 
Cotton wnose agriculturbl, planting, und oairy 
operations are deserving of all praise, About 120 
Itelormatory lads are tiius kept hard at work in 
most use>ul occupauons (carpentry, shoemakiog 
and tailoring besides) and iheir contented, brighc 
as well as sturdy appearance speaks velumes for 
the goodness of the climate and the mUuenoe of 
regular woik and meals. As by far the greater 
number of these lads are from the Western Pro- 
vince, as well as of tha 50 Oipbans, Mr. Langdon's 
" Happy Valley Mission " bas inoeed a specinl 
claim on Colombo as well as Uva residents, and 
we should be very glad to te made the medium 
of donations to clear away dout and support the 
work. Not the leatt int resting feature was the 
dairy— which may be extended to meet the re- 
quirements of 200 military men when they oome into 
their tented Oamp in the neighbourhood — and the 
promising tea-clearing ; and tUe liitie, homely but 
oomioriable chapel — miiiway between Orphanage 
and reformatory — with its mioa winaow panes and 
thatohed roof. A visit to " Happy Valley" will 
be one of the inteiesting sights for railway 
travellers when the Talawa station is open and 
a fee (if not donation) might well be madd 
coudiiional, as a means ot aiding the work. — > 
Our companion well describes what we saw on 
Katibgalu under the au»piues of one of the mo^t 
sterling oolonisls— and pioneers— of the old school, 
Mr. Macphaii whose kind beart and other stoning 
qualities are so fully appreciated by a wiue 
uirc.e of planting as well as other iiieiids. Would 
thai. Dame Fortune in his case, had dealt m 
some proportion to merit. How many tales of 
bytgone days of the '•Fifties and Sixties" had 
we 10 listen to or share in! Of DaviUbun, Maclar- 
lane (who fell a victim to smallpox). Thumas 
Wood, Yankee Bayley, Pmeo, clever Henry Don, 
Byere, Erdaile Hope Baillie and all the re=t. 
We wished, we had time to go and see Goaa- 
motava where we found Kieller in IbGo putting in 
his fir^t coffee clearing, and which is still in cuch 
tine heart, and down the Pass, to see the change 
in miny old properties— but better luck next t.me. 
It was rather exciting to have the exact spot on 
Haputale pointed out where the murdered tappal- 
man in lb61 was picked up, and the search carried 
on for the murderer, resultii g in the arrest of one of 
the leaders in the search, — ihe estate carpenter and 
of bia subsequent conviction and hang.ijg 1 
DO PLANTS DREAM? 
" Cliaptors io JIo lem Botany." By Profeipcr 
Patiick Geiidec Unnereily Extension Manuals. 
(IjOndt n : John Muriay): — 
In spite of ProfeSfor Oeddes' disinterested advice 
to ih« Btuuent ( n p 115) tot to read text, books, we 
havti rend tlroogh this one with Iho ^realeat delight. 
Even hiid Mr. Geddcs prelaced his bo^k Wiih tlia 
reuiark to which we had jost referred instead of 
t,i«oiietly planiii it wed towards the end, cariosity 
pljae ^c^ld htY9 U(] ua to )9q1s through itPftbio^ 
written by him. The present work is a most cliitm- 
ingiy wiiiifcu account ot some uf the ini re eliikiug 
pLtiiiomeua ot p ai^t-life -, it is indeed spleudid ol ita 
kiud, tu — It la haraly uotanj. We oome aoto^s next 
to Dothiug of ■' paicucbyma " '• Boleieiichjma " and 
all the otber " tiichyumo "; " areheBonia " and "an- 
therida are let severe yalone; there ia no disoussion 
aa to the morphology ol " lanciferou« vesaeis," &c, 
lu faoi,it IS a Jit le too much Ufjou the " University 
Kxteus on " iD<. del which tends to i>rtseut the fctadeut 
with ihc plums belore he has lairly eaibed them by 
reeolute y dine^tiug He crust. We do noc of courae 
apply this cn iciSLu to tbe >oiumt?, but to the ayetem 
wliioh it represents. Professor Geddes irankiy carries 
out the system which we dtplore ir» its present form 
as tending to pufl' uut the aiudeot belore he has been 
woU seasoned wiih a goo i dose of the elements. 
The bo k pluugbs at ouce into an extiemely interest 
iug but outlying d< pirtment of botany, the mature and 
hnbi s of usec.ivi.ruas plants. lu this cuuiitry there 
are at least three types of iiiseoiivoroua plants. There 
in the sundew, its leaves gliaiening with innumerable 
droplets in which aulncky flies are limed; (be mtter- 
wort with unctuous butt, ry leaves; and the uiriculaiia 
providea with .iitie bladders, into which inquisitive 
iuuec s — aiBo minute fish, which Mr. Geddes dues not 
mention — poke their i.osos, and are caught straightway 
aud • a.tu. Ia the trop.CB are stranger loims stiil, with 
huge piichecB " soiving a like putpose. It haa been 
sh> wn tuat from theae leaves anu piiobers u exuued 
a juice etrictly o^na^aiaula to the goetric juice ot 
our stomachs, and tnat the plants are in every eeuse 
ot mo word Carnivorous. Ihua one of tbe Lairieri 
between anima s and plan s was broken dowu com- 
pletely by tbe restarohes of Darwin, who first syste- 
matically invesiisated the matter. These inseciivor- 
vU3 pUniB BUow cuiioua thuUKh necessary reseoibl- 
bnceg in relited matters to tee abimala who^e nature 
ihey have auoptea; ihey both can and do tufier 
trom luuigestiou ; they a^e apt to starve (though 
t>.id has been denied) if animal food be peitLstc-ntiy 
withhtld from them. The plants rule. red to ca^cH 
thoir prey in a passive lasLiou; Venus' fly tiap is 
an luaecuvofous plant which shows moie aonvuy ; 
the leaf is exieuded like an open Laud. When an 
iuoocd (ouches it tho two blades at once clooe upon 
each o(her, and there the fly remains until .*ealh 
and dibsolutiou are aotomplished, Tne piauta toO| 
cao hardly be hoaxed; we can tetcu out a spidet 
agaia and a^ain tiom his lair by gently tickling the 
woo with a twig, but a urop ol rain or a putf of 
Mil d does not oeia..e the diuiisej ; the impact uiust 
be fr^m auoie substance whiou ia digestible, and 
therefore UEetul to the plant ; tbe mitiuiest utoplet 
o. ammonia will cause a ooutr..ctioQ of thei leaf aa 
surely as the largest wasp that can be aooommo- 
dat d within the closed trap. Tne uiousBj la even 
an epicure, though iiot a teeiotalec : it win take DjiIk 
and vvino but noc sugor or tea. So surprising are 
these lacta that it la remarkable to hear ot peop e 
WHO aie 1.01 content with them, bat must eu- 
fleavour to improve upon them by (he addition 
of monstrous and poiut.eas Jegeuas. A traveller 
has I elated how a oo^ was captured by (he 
iute Uc/ug ue'.work of a shrub ; the fiures 
writued round it severed tne muscular bands, 
*ud sucked at aud " puckered up " the sain. 
Whe n ihu intiepiJ traveller attempted tbe releaan of 
I'ls Uog the plaut turned lis ai.t3i4tiou to him, aud 
the twigs curled like liiing ainuoua fii gera "round 
his uauu I Far mote reasonable, as woil as more 
po.tical — in that it exptesses a profound truth — is the 
legdud of the Dryad aud the tree. The pueuomena 
ot lif and the "physical basis " of lilo — piotopU»-m 
—are identical in the animal and in tne piant. Thil 
indeed is oi.e oi the ioiportaut genecalisatious tnat 
Air. Oeddea keeps contiuually before the reader. In- 
scciivorom pUi.ls not only digest ana ausoro their 
food like Cnrisiians, nut they sleep afterwards ; and 
bonij vcKOtables even appear to dream, tor a Beusitiva 
plat,t was ouce seen to tAuch its leaves wiihoat any 
^liinulua having been tiist appl eJ. 
Anoiher oo anivai by>.a> along whioh Mr. Geddca 
