The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-09-25
wonders Of Plants and Flowers.

HOUuPTS vi luuts anu IlVWOtSe
Most of the flowers sleep during the
night The marigold goes to bed
with the sun. Many plants are so sem
sitive that their leaves close during the
passage of cloud. The dandelion opens
at five or six in the morning, and shuts
at nine in the evening, the daisy opens
its days eye to meet the early beams of
the morning sun. The ivy-leaved let
tuc6 opens at eight in the morning and
closes forever at four in the afternoon.
The night-howering cereus turns night
into day. 1t begins to expand its magni-
cent sweet-scented blossoms in the
twilight, it is in full bloom at midnight,
and closes forever at the dawn of day.
In a clover field not q leaf is open until
after sunrise. There are some plants
that may be used as weather prophets.
The pimpernel spreads its leaves ut the
end of wet weather, while the different
species of clover contract theirs. If the
chickweed droops and its flowers are not
open, there is rain in prospect. The
crowfoot anemone foretells the coming
of rain by closing its blossoms; the ane-
none mentaisa carries its flowers erect
when the weather is fine, and dropping
when overcast. 1t will rain if the whit
low grass lets its leaves hang dropping,
if the gallium verum swells and exhales
strongly, also if the birch scents the air.
The sensitiveness of plants to light,
heat and moisture was made by Linneus,
the great botanist, the basis of many
experiments and observations, resulting
in tho arrangement called his floral
clock" 1t is a curious fact that there
are twenty-four varieties of plants whose
blossoms open successively at the differ
ent hours of day and night. The flow
ers of the water lily close and sink into
. the water precisely at sunset, rise again
to the surface and expand with sunrise.
Pliny described the lotus of the Eu-
pirates, which followed the same order;
and the reverence which was paid to
the lotus by the Egyptians is supposed
by some to be from this association with
the sacred sun. Flowers and fruits of
the lotus are engraved on Eastern tombs
and monuments, and adoI n the heads of
their sculptured deities. Besides the
g floral clock" there is floral calendar,
in which each month is marked by its
own loyal flower.
1t is well known that plants sleep mt
night; but their hours of sleeping are a
matter of habit, and may be disturbed
artifcially, just as cock may be walked
up to crow at an untimely hour by the
light of lantern. A French chemist
subjected sensitive plant to an exceed
ingly trying course of discipline by COM
pletely changing its hours, exposing it
to a bright light at night, and putting it
in Il dark room during the day. The
plant appeared to be much puzzled at
first. 1t opened and closed its leaves ir-
regularly, sometimes nodding in spite of
the artificial sun that shed its beams at
midnight, and sometimes waking up,
from force of habit, to find the chamber
dark in spite of the time of day. Such
are the trammels of use and wont. But,
after an obvious struggle, the plant sub
mitted to the change, and accepted the
night for the day without any apparent
i'll effects.
We notice that an Italian chemist has
recently made some experiments which
have resulted in the discovery that vege-
table perfumes exercise positively
healthful influence upon the atmosphere
by converting its oxygen into ozone, and
thus increasing its oXidizing influences.
The essences found to develop the largest
quantity ofozone are those ofthe cherry,
laurel, clover, lavender, mint, juniper,
lemon, fennel and bergamot: those that
give smaller quantities are anise, nut
meg and thyme. Flowers destitute of
perfume do not develop ozone, and those
which have but slight perfume develop
it only in small quantities. Reasoning
from these facts, the professor recon-
mends the cultivation OF flowers in
marshy districts and in all places in
tested with animal emanations, on ac-
count of the powerful oxidizing inhu-
ence Of ozone. The inhabitants of such
regions should, he says, surround their
houses with beds of the most odorous
flowers. There is a mystery about per-
fume. 1t eludes the most subtle analy
sis. So fine, so subtle, so imponderable,
it has eluded our most delicate measures
and our strongest lenses. If we could
come to the essence of each odor we
would make an enormous stride in hy-
giene and in chemistry, and no profession
would profit so much by it as the medi-
cal profession if it could be conclusively
demonstrated that such an odor pro-
ceeded from such and such a cause. as
we already know of sulphur, sulphurate-
hydrogen, ammonia, and he like. IN
dtdndp IBIS Journal.