Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1915 — Botanical Curiosity. [ARTICLE]

Botanical Curiosity.

Since 1893, when Prof. John Muirhead Macfarlane, now director of-the botanical garden at the /University of Pennsylvania, found that the leaves of the plant.known as the Venus fly trap will close up only if the trigger hair* are disturbed twice in succession, very ttttie teabacn-learned about the physiology of thia curious Insect-catehiM plant. During the past year, however, son* new experiments have been

made that bring its behavior into line with the behavior of animals in certain respects. The leaves are sensitive to mechanical disturbances, to electrical stimulation and to the sudden increase in temperature as through the application of warm .water. At ordinary temperatures it takes two stimulations to get up the response; but at higher temperatures one "shock” will cause the leaf to close. At ordinary temperatures one electric shock will produce the effect if it is strong enough.