First book of Indian botany / Daniel Oliver.

  • Oliver, Daniel, 1830-1916.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First book of Indian botany / Daniel Oliver. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    34/464 (page 18)
    matters and suppose that this has been already done, and that you tried the experiment in this way upon three distinct specimens. No. i you left lying upon the table. No. 2 was placed with its root in water. No. 3 was hung upside down, with a flower or leaf in water, the roots in the air. The general result of your experiment will be as follows : —After the lapse of a few hours, No. 1 will be, as we have already found, faded; No. 2 will be nearly unaltered; No. 3 will be partially faded, the parts out of water especially. Hence we may gather that water supplied to the specimens prevents them from fading, especially if it be supplied to the root. On the other hand, if water be withheld, they fade. 2. If we take now the faded specimen first described and put its root in water, and leave it for a few hours in a cool, shaded room, we shall probably find, unless it be irre- trievably withered, that it freshens more or less; the leaves and stem become firmer and more nearly like their original state. This experiment shows us, further, that water supplied to a fading plant enables it to recover. Reflecting upon these experiments, we shall be led to the following conclusions :— i. That water evaporates from the exposed surface of plants. ii. That fresh supplies are taken into the plant by the root. iii. That the stem serves to convey this water-supply from the root to the leaves. 3. We may now try another simple experiment, devised by Professor Henslow, which shows that exposure to direct sunlight, as well as dryness of the air, has to do with this