Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1891-08-06
THE LIFE OF PLANTS.
Minute Organisms by which It Is SUI.
talned,

Minute Organisms by Which 1t Is sus
talned.
About one-fifth of every living thing
is composed of numberlcss little points
OF life called bioplasts, They are so
minute that only the most powerful
microscope can detect them, and ap-
pear to be a colorless viscid fluid which.
in most animals and plants is con-
tanned in cell. They are continually
In motion, taking in nutrient matter
ana throwing off formed material. In
the human system they spin the
nerves, bones, muscles, etc, in plants
the roots, stem, leaves, etc. Now,
strange as it may seem, this little
bioplast, examined by the most
powerful microscope, looks Just
the same in plant or vegeta-
bic as it does in a. man. We plant n
Hover seed the bioplast, which we call
life, feels quickeniny influence, and
at once throws off another bioplast.
These little worlimen have the power
OF converting instantaneously non-liv-
Ing into living material, and the one
that is found weaving the bark looks
Just like the one that is spinning the
fiber or the flower.
German students have lately been
studying this life principle. 1t can be
destroyed but not resuscitated. A
crystal can be dissolved and re-
crystaliZed, but once this little life
is destroyed no one can bring it back.
The more we think of it the more won
derful it seems. An Intelligence past
our comprehension appears to attend
the growth of everything. Ninety five
per cent. of all vegetables and plants is
taken from the atmosphere. These
little bioplasts seem to know just what
they want with which to build every
part-the root, stem, bark, leaf, flower,
and not only that, but the shape of
every part as well as the delicate color
ing and perfume. How can it all be
done by this little point of life which
we call bioplast?
1t is natural for men to sleep once in
twenty-four hours. The prevailing
y
lates in the nerve centers in such guam
titles rs to bring about insensibility,
which continues until the brain has
been relieved of waste matter by its
absorption into the circulation; and yet
many flowers and plants exhibit the
phenomenon of sleep. AS night ap-
proaches the dandelion folds its petals,
the acacia its leaves, and they remain
SO, to open with the dawn of day.
Flowers and plants have no nerve cen
tiers or organs, yet they must sleep once
in twenty-four hours.
The leaf of many plants contains the
principle of the whole plant, for by
roofing it plant can be obtained COM
plete. This shows that the germ which
is contained in the seed is, in many in.
stances, found in leaf or branch. This
same phenomenon is also exhibited in
the animal kingdom; for there is kind
of worm called the nais which, if its
head is cut off, "a new one is at once
produced. The same is true of the
tail. Thus we see that the
vegetable and animal kingdoms are
closely allied, and life, wherever
found, is hidden mystery, and yet we
have not come to the most wonderful
part. AS we have said, the microscope
reveals the process of building, or form
ing the various parts of animals and
plants. We see the little bioplast in d
cell taking nutritious matter, and con
verting it instantaneously into living
matter; then, throwing off formed ma
terial, such as, in animals, bones mus
cles, and in plants, roots, flowers
leaves, etc. also throwing off Other
bioplasts.
One would suppose that this living
matter in cell, since it looks exactly
alike whether found in plant or ami
NAL, would do the same kind of work
and continue to multiply cells in mas
without form; yet we see the most in
tricate mechanism, and not only that
but one part is made to serve another
as the muscles of the fingers to con
tract and move the fingers, etc. Ii
plants we see combinations of color'
which easily rival the art of the mos
skillful painter.-Popular Science.