Page:Micrographia - or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon.djvu/182

 Rh One of these Plants, whose branch seem'd to be older and more grown then the other, onely the tender Sprouts of it, after the leaves are shut, fall and hang down; of the other, the whole branches fall to the ground, if the Sun shine very warm, upon the first taking off the Glass, which I therefore call the humble Plant.

The other two, which do never fall, nor do any of their branches flagg and hang down, shut not their leaves, but upon somewhat a hard stroke; the stalks seem to grow up from a root, and appear more herbaceous, they are round and smooth, without any prickle, the Sprouts from them have several pairs of sprigs, with much less leaves then the other on them, and have on each sprig generally seventeen pair.

Upon touching any of the sprigs with leaves on, all the leaves on that sprig contracting themselves by pairs, joyned their upper superficies close together.

Upon the dropping a drop of Aqua fortis on the sprig betwixt the leaves, $$ff$$ all the leaves above shut presently, those below by pairs successively after, and by the lower leaves of the other branches, $$l l$$, $$kk$$, &c. and so every pair successively, with some little distance of time betwixt, to the top of each sprig, and so they continu'd shut all the time we were there. But I returning the next day, and several days since, found all the leaves dilated again on two of the sprigs; but from $$ff$$, where the Aqua fortis had dropped upwards, dead and withered; but those below on the same sprig, green, and closing upon the touch, and are so to this day, August 14.

With a pair of Scissers, as suddenly as it could be done, one of the leaves $$bb$$ was clipped off in the middle, upon which that pair, and the pair above, closed presently, after a little interval, $$dd$$, then $$ee$$, and so the rest of the pairs, to the bottom of the sprig, and then the motion began in the lower pairs, $$ll$$, on the other sprigs, and so shut them by pairs upwards, though not with such distinct distances.

Rh