DO PLANTS THINE?

Evening Star, Issue 11452, 21 January 1901, Page 2

DO PLANTS THINE?

Biologtffcs coriqur in the belief that there is a certain gfadtttten of form in<j fusotion from in>h to the Very lowest organism, and that tha principle of life which exists aa the prime element iS organised matter ia fundi* mentally (he (jams in all, but only unequally developed ftpd manifested. Then it should follow that if thought is the connecting link between Bensation and motion ia a man, it ja so in a monkey, or in a horse (c«rtainly as nigacions as an African Hottentot or a Papuan of Australia), cr in a dog, wio may at times bs more intelligent than his owner; and so on downward in the scale to the lower animals. The bower - bird, for instance, builds p}ay-bpuse«, and amuses itself in' them as our children do; the animals or birds shun the trap; the fish scrutinises the bait and refuses to touch it; the barnacle waves its cilia in the water, by which it produces, currents that bring food within reach, but stops its movements immediately if it ia touched by a straw. Then those are interesting plants that are only visible oh the slide of a powerful microscope, when they are seen darting hither and thither in the drop of water on the elide, or rotating and revolving in a mazy waltz and carefully avoiding each other in their intricate motions, aa the higher animals do when amusing themselves in the ballroom. Sometimes one of these yolvocinje Btop to rest, and we see its cilia gently Waving and drawing currents to jt as the barnacle does, and ohoosing its food thus brought close to it. Here we see one of the lowest forms of vegetable Ijfg performing intelligent functions as the lower animal in the higher scale does, and with the same intelligent purpose. But we will go higher in the scale of vegetable life, and wo shall find somg more remarkable instances of sensation and resulting action that brings the plants into more prominent position as sentient organisms.

The common sundew (Dionea muscipula), commonly known as " Venus'a fly trap," is one of the most curious of the sensitive plants. Its leaves are thick and fleshy, and are covered with spines. The leaves are arranged in pairs like those of a book, and exude a viscous matter by which tiies are attracted. When a fly alights upon a leaf the spineß at once closo down upon it, and the leaves fold together, enclosing the prey, and it is said by some observers that the hapless insect is digested by an acrid I'quid that then exudes, and is absorbed as nutriment, much cs the toad, silently and stealthily hiding in the grass, perceives a fly alight on a blade, and darts towards it, and with its sticky tongue draws its prey into its capacious jaws ; or more like the lazy ant-eater, which liee prone on the anthill abd projects its viscous tongue on the ground, and when it is covered with auts suddenly withdraws it into its mouth and swallows the insects.

Then Western prairies are covered in places with a beautifully-feathered le&Ted plant, a species of mimosa. This is commonly known as the sensitive plane. You stoop and drew the hand gently across one of the low bunches of these plants. Instantly the delicate pinnate leaves shrink and fold together, and remain folded as long as the intruder siays. But when he softly retires to a short distance the leaves begin to unfold and spread out to the sunshine. Some varieties of the mimosa in Brazil are still more sensitive, cloaiDg their leaves when the sound of a horse's foot is heard, and shrink still more closely when the ground is jarred by the tread of the animal near it. One of the species, Mimosa sensitiva, is so curiously organised that it is rendered insensible by exposure to chloroform. lb then goes to until the effects of the antithetic have worn off by evaporation. The sly opossum and the wily fox lie low and simulate death when cornered by an enemy and escapeappearshopeless; thohamEn criminal hides from his pursuer. Is there any connection between these similar actions of these plants and animals, and, if so, are they not due to the same cause? The attempt at deception is the same; it has a purpbße, and is the result of a calculation of chances, and it certainly seems as if it wore the result of a process of thought. MaDy other plants possess this acute sensitiveness. We see the pig picking up straws in its, mouth and carrying them about to find a place for a bed, and we say, as the result of observation and experience : " It is going to rain." The cats make their discordant complaints to the midnight mcon, the wolves howl, doga whine, the cook crows at sundown, and we ourselves feel the papiilce of the skin shrink and our hair rougbena and a curious nervous excitement m»fc«s ua feel "all over" when the barometer is falling and before the rain comes.

So the clover in the meadow feel«, and it shuts its leaves. The spurry oloies its petals, and a scientific observer taya a field that was white with blossoms has soddedv become quite charged by the mere parsing over of a black thunder-cloud and the filing of a few drops of rain. The common cniekweed opens its blossoms only when the tun isßhining, and, like the dial, conutß osly the bright hours. When the little bloKoms close, ruin invariably falls within a few hours. Rural dwellers take note of this, and are likely to say: " Hurry, vre can get back before it rains, for the chickweeds are open yet."