Marvels of the Universe 1007 
Monstera deliciosa (the great tropical Aroid, which is often trained about warm greenhouses) 
suffered from an insufficiency of water. In order to obtain a further supply they sent down their 
roots with a remarkable instinct to a tank of water. This meant a journey of several feet 
through the air. How they could possibly have discovered the right quarter to which to 
direct their growth it is very difficult to 
suggest. 
It is not always very easy to study 
roots when they are growing in the soil, 
but opportunities do sometimes occur. 
Gravel- and sand-pits are always well 
worth visiting in this respect. A curious 
case of a Fir-root came under notice 
recently ; this had been brought to light 
owing to the removal of a quantity of 
soil. In its earliest days the root had 
grown along horizontally through the top 
layer of mould. Eventually this course 
brought it into a stratum of pure sand ; 
this material seems to have been too dry 
for the well-being of the root, and, as a 
consequence, a very strange thing hap- 
pened. 
The growth of the root in the direction 
in which it was going ceased abruptly, and 
the tip evidently turned off at right angles 
and grew downwards. The root persevered 
through two feet of pure sand, extending 
downwards to a layer of moist soil be- 
neath. It is highly improbable that the 
sand would be affected upwards to any 
extent by the moist layer underneath, and 
the root must have had a bad time when 
passing through the dry region. Yet in 
some way, of which we can have little 
knowledge, it knew that finally a moister 
region would be reached. 
It may be straining a point to talk 
about the intelligence of roots, but such e, 
cases as the foregoing seem to show that = Pitoby) RE SRB 
these organs possess a sense of being able Genus Rooks: 
A trailing Cactus in South Africa, growing up over a shed, 
to feel things before they actually come sent down roots through a hole in the roof. The ground was eight 
feet beneath. 
into contact. 
CORENES 
BY EDWARD A. MARTIN, F.G.S. 
Tuat corals are both beautiful and marvellous objects no one will gainsay. They have been 
familiar to all from childhood’s days. One’s earliest recollections of corals have generally been 
drawn from coral necklaces, made up of pieces of what has been called “ precious coral.’’ Then one 
