The Power of Movement in Plants by Charles Darwin (best fiction books to read TXT) 📕

window. This intermediate position is intelligible, for any light from the sky which entered obliquely through the slits would be much more efficient than the diffused light which entered directly through them. After the 8 h. exposure, the contrast in appearance between these 13 cotyledons and the many other seedlings in the same pots, which were all (excepting the above 14 vertical ones) greatly bowed in straight and parallel lines towards the window, was extremely remarkable. It is therefore certain that a little weak light striking the upper halves of the cotyledons of Phalaris, is far more potent in determining the direction of the curvature of the lower halves, than the full illumination of the latter during the whole time of exposure.

 

In confirmation of the above results, the effect of thickly painting with Indian ink one side of the upper part of three cotyledons of Phalaris, for a length of .2 inch from their tips, may be worth giving. These were placed so that the unpainted surface was directed not towards the window, but a little to one side; and they all became bent towards the unpainted side, and from the line of the window by angles amounting to 31o, 35o, and 83o.

The curvature in this direction extended down to their bases, although the whole lower part was fully exposed to the light from the window.

 

Finally, although there can be no doubt that the illumination of the upper part of the cotyledons of Phalaris greatly affects the power and manner of bending of the lower part, yet some observations seemed to render it probable that the simultaneous stimulation of the lower part by light greatly favours, or is almost necessary, for its well-marked curvature; but our experiments were not conclusive, owing to the difficulty of excluding light from the lower halves without mechanically preventing their curvature.

 

Avena sativa.—The cotyledons of this plant become quickly bowed towards a lateral light, exactly like those of Phalaris.

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Experiments similar to the foregoing ones were tried, and we will give the results as briefly as possible. They are somewhat less conclusive than in the case of Phalaris, and this may possibly be accounted for by the sensitive zone varying in extension, in a species so long cultivated and variable as the common Oat. Cotyledons a little under three-quarters of an inch in height were selected for trial: six had their summits protected from light by tin-foil caps, .25 inch in depth, and two others by caps .3

inch in depth. Of these 8 cotyledons, five remained upright during 8 hours of exposure, although their lower parts were fully exposed to the light all the time; two were very slightly, and one considerably, bowed towards it.

Caps only .2 or .22 inch in depth were placed over 4 other cotyledons, and now only one remained upright, one was slightly, and two considerably bowed to the light. In this and the following cases all the free seedlings in the same pots became greatly bowed to the light.

 

Our next trial was made with short lengths of thin and fairly transparent quills; for glass-tubes of sufficient diameter to go over the cotyledons would have been too heavy. Firstly, the summits of 13 cotyledons were enclosed in unpainted quills, and of these 11 became greatly and 2 slightly bowed to the light; so that the mere act of enclosure did not prevent the lower part from becoming bowed. Secondly, the summits of 11 cotyledons were enclosed in quills .3 inch in length, painted so as to be impermeable to light; of these, 7 did not become at all inclined towards the light, but 3

of them were slightly bent more or less transversely with respect to the line of light, and these might perhaps have been altogether excluded; one alone was slightly bowed towards the light. Painted quills, .25 inch in length, were placed over the summits of 4 other cotyledons; of these, one alone remained upright, a second was slightly bowed, and the two others as much bowed to the light as the free seedlings in the same pots. These two latter cases, considering that the caps were .25 in length, are inexplicable.

 

Lastly, the summits of 8 cotyledons were coated with flexible and highly transparent goldbeaters’ skin, and all became as much bowed to the light as the free seedlings. The summits of 9 other cotyledons were similarly coated with goldbeaters’ skin, which was then painted to a depth of between .25 and .3 inch, so as to be impermeable to light; of these 5

remained upright, and 4 were well bowed to the light, almost or quite as well as

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the free seedlings. These latter four cases, as well as the two in the last paragraph, offer a strong exception to the rule that the illumination of the upper part determines the curvature of the lower part. Nevertheless, 5

of these 8 cotyledons remained quite upright, although their lower halves were fully illuminated all the time; and it would almost be a prodigy to find five free seedlings standing vertically after an exposure for several hours to a lateral light.

 

The cotyledons of Avena, like those of Phalaris, when growing in soft, damp, fine sand, leave an open crescentric furrow on the shaded side, after bending to a lateral light; and they become bowed beneath the surface at a depth to which, as we know, light cannot penetrate. The arcs of the chords of the buried bowed portions formed in two cases angles of 20o and 21o with the perpendicular. The open furrows on the shaded side were, in four cases, .008, .016, .024, and .024 of an inch in breadth.

Brassica oleracea (Common Red).—It will here be shown that the upper half of the hypocotyl of the cabbage, when illuminated by a lateral light, determines the curvature of the lower half. It is necessary to experimentise on young seedlings about half an inch or rather less in height, for when grown to an inch and upwards the basal part ceases to bend. We first tried painting the hypocotyls with Indian ink, or cutting off their summits for various lengths; but these experiments are not worth giving, though they confirm, as far as they can be trusted, the results of the following ones. These were made by folding goldbeaters’ skin once round the upper halves of young hypocotyls, and painting it thickly with Indian ink or with black grease. As a control experiment, the same transparent skin, left unpainted, was folded round the upper halves of 12

hypocotyls; and these all became greatly curved to the light, excepting one, which was only moderately curved. Twenty other young hypocotyls had the skin round their upper halves painted, whilst their lower halves were left quite uncovered. These seedlings were then exposed, generally for between 7 and 8 h., in a box blackened within and open in front, either before a south-west window or a paraffin lamp. This exposure was amply sufficient, as was shown by the strongly-marked heliotropism of all the free seedlings in the same pots; nevertheless, some were left exposed to the light for a much longer time. Of the 20 hypocotyls thus treated, 14

remained quite upright, and 6 became slightly bowed to the light; but 2 of these latter cases were not really

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exceptions, for on removing the skin the paint was found imperfect and was penetrated by many small transparent spaces on the side which faced the light. Moreover, in two other cases the painted skin did not extend quite halfway down the hypocotyl. Although there was a wonderful contrast in the several pots between these 20 hypocotyls and the other many free seedlings, which were all greatly bowed down to their bases in the direction of the light, some being almost prostrate on the ground.

 

The most successful trial on any one day (included in the above results) is worth describing in detail. Six young seedlings were selected, the hypocotyls of which were nearly .45 inch, excepting one, which was .6 inch in height, measured from the bases of their petioles to the ground. Their upper halves, judged as accurately as could be done by the eye, were folded once round with goldbeaters’ skin, and this was painted thickly with Indian ink. They were exposed in an otherwise darkened room before a bright paraffin lamp, which stood on a level with the two pots containing the seedlings. They were first looked at after an interval of 5 h. 10 m., and five of the protected hypocotyls were found quite erect, the sixth being very slightly inclined to the light; whereas all the many free seedlings in the same two pots were greatly bowed to the light. They were again examined after a continuous exposure to the light of 20 h. 35m.; and now the contrast between the two sets was wonderfully great; for the free seedlings had their hypocotyls extended almost horizontally in the direction of the light, and were curved down to the ground; whilst those with the upper halves protected by the painted skin, but with their lower halves fully exposed to the light, still remained quite upright, with the exception of the one which retained the same slight inclination to the light which it had before. This latter seedling was found to have been rather badly painted, for on the side facing the light the red colour of the hypocotyl could be distinguished through the paint.

 

We next tried nine older seedlings, the hypocotyls of which varied between 1 and 1.6 inch in height. the goldbeaters’ skin round their upper parts was painted with black grease to a depth of only .3 inch, that is, from less than a third to a fourth or fifth of their total heights. They were exposed to the light for 7 h. 15 m.; and the result showed that the whole of the sensitive zone, which determines the curvature of the lower [page 481]

part, was not protected from the action of the light; for all 9 became curved towards it, 4 of them very slightly, 3 moderately, and 2 almost as much as the unprotected seedlings. Nevertheless, the whole 9 taken together differed plainly in their degree of curvature from the many free seedlings, and from some which were wrapped in unpainted skin, growing in the same two pots.

 

Seeds were covered with about a quarter of an inch of the fine sand described under Phalaris; and when the hypocotyls had grown to a height of between .4 and .55 inch, they were exposed during 9 h. before a paraffin lamp, their bases being at first closely surrounded by the damp sand. They all became bowed down to the ground, so that their upper parts lay near to and almost parallel to the surface of the soil. On the side of the light their bases were in close contact with the sand, which was here a very little heaped up; on the opposite or shaded side there were open, crescentic cracks or furrows, rather above .01 of an inch in width; but they were not so sharp and regular as those made by Phalaris and Avena, and therefore could not be so easily measured under the microscope. The hypocotyls were found, when the sand was removed on one side, to be curved to a depth beneath the surface in three cases of at least .1 inch, in a fourth case of .11, and in a fifth of .15 inch. The chords of the arcs of the short, buried, bowed portions formed angles of between 11o and 15o with the perpendicular. From what we have seen of the impermeability of this sand to light, the curvature of the hypocotyls certainly extended down to a depth where no light could enter; and the curvature must have been caused by an influence transmitted from the upper