CHAPTER XVIII 
HOW PLANTS BREATHE 
Do plants breathe? Yes. But if plants do not have 
lungs as we do, how can they breathe? There are 
many animals which do not have lungs, as the 
starfish, the oyster, the worm, etc., and yet 
[iS they breathe. Breathing in animals we call 
=< 
‘|| respiration. So in plants breathing is respiration. 




Respiration in germinating seeds. Soak a 
handful of peas for twenty-four hours in water. 
Remove them from the water and put them in 
a bottle or a glass jar. Cork tightly 
or cover with a piece of glass, the 
underside of which is cemented to 
the mouth of the jar with vaseline 
to make it air-tight. Keep it in a 
moderately warm room for twenty- 
four hours. Keep an empty bottle 
covered in the same way. Light a 
taper or a splinter, and as the cover 
¥1G.156, Peasgerminat. 8 removed from the jar thrust the 
ing in a closed jar. lighted end into the jar. The flame 
is extinguished. Now light the taper again, uncover the 
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