Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER I DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA, OR THE COMMON SUN-DEW
- CHAPTER II THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TENTACLES FROM THE CONTACT OF SOLID BODIES
- CHAPTER III AGGREGATION OF THE PROTOPLASM WITHIN THE CELLS OF THE TENTACLES
- CHAPTER IV THE EFFECTS OF HEAT ON THE LEAVES
- CHAPTER V THE EFFECTS OF NON-NITROGENOUS AND NITROGENOUS ORGANIC FLUIDS ON THE LEAVES
- CHAPTER VI THE DIGESTIVE POWER OF THE SECRETION OF DEOSERA
- CHAPTER VII THE EFFECTS OF SALTS OF AMMONIA
- CHAPTER VIII THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS OTHER SALTS, AND ACIDS, ON THE LEAVES
- CHAPTER IX THE EFFECTS OF CERTAIN ALKALOID POISONS, OTHER SUBSTANCES AND VAPOURS
- CHAPTER X ON THE SENSITIVENESS OF THE LEAVES, AND ON THE LINES OF TRANSMISSION OF THE MOTOR IMPULSE
- CHAPTER XI RECAPITULATION OF THE CHIEF OBSERVATIONS ON DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA
- CHAPTER XII ON THE STRUCTURE AND MOVEMENTS OF SOME OTHER SPECIES OF DROSERA
- CHAPTER XIII DIONÆA MUSCIPULA
- CHAPTER XIV ALDROVANDA VESICULOSA
- CHAPTER XV DROSOPHYLLUM — RORIDULA — BYBLIS — GLANDULAR HAIRS OF OTHER PLANTS — CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE DROSERACEÆ
- CHAPTER XVI PINGUICULA
- CHAPTER XVII UTRICULARIA
- CHAPTER XVIII UTRICULARIA (continued)
- ERRATA
- INDEX
CHAPTER VII - THE EFFECTS OF SALTS OF AMMONIA
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- CHAPTER I DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA, OR THE COMMON SUN-DEW
- CHAPTER II THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TENTACLES FROM THE CONTACT OF SOLID BODIES
- CHAPTER III AGGREGATION OF THE PROTOPLASM WITHIN THE CELLS OF THE TENTACLES
- CHAPTER IV THE EFFECTS OF HEAT ON THE LEAVES
- CHAPTER V THE EFFECTS OF NON-NITROGENOUS AND NITROGENOUS ORGANIC FLUIDS ON THE LEAVES
- CHAPTER VI THE DIGESTIVE POWER OF THE SECRETION OF DEOSERA
- CHAPTER VII THE EFFECTS OF SALTS OF AMMONIA
- CHAPTER VIII THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS OTHER SALTS, AND ACIDS, ON THE LEAVES
- CHAPTER IX THE EFFECTS OF CERTAIN ALKALOID POISONS, OTHER SUBSTANCES AND VAPOURS
- CHAPTER X ON THE SENSITIVENESS OF THE LEAVES, AND ON THE LINES OF TRANSMISSION OF THE MOTOR IMPULSE
- CHAPTER XI RECAPITULATION OF THE CHIEF OBSERVATIONS ON DROSERA ROTUNDIFOLIA
- CHAPTER XII ON THE STRUCTURE AND MOVEMENTS OF SOME OTHER SPECIES OF DROSERA
- CHAPTER XIII DIONÆA MUSCIPULA
- CHAPTER XIV ALDROVANDA VESICULOSA
- CHAPTER XV DROSOPHYLLUM — RORIDULA — BYBLIS — GLANDULAR HAIRS OF OTHER PLANTS — CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE DROSERACEÆ
- CHAPTER XVI PINGUICULA
- CHAPTER XVII UTRICULARIA
- CHAPTER XVIII UTRICULARIA (continued)
- ERRATA
- INDEX
Summary
The chief object in this chapter is to show how powerfully the salts of ammonia act on the leaves of Drosera, and more especially to show what an extraordinarily small quantity suffices to excite inflection. I shall, therefore, be compelled to enter into full details. Doubly distilled water was always used; and for the more delicate experiments, water which had been prepared with the utmost possible care was given me by Professor Frankland. The graduated measures were tested, and found as accurate as such measures can be. The salts were carefully weighed, and in all the more delicate experiments, by Borda's double method. But extreme accuracy would have been superfluous, as the leaves differ greatly in irritability, according to age, condition, and constitution. Even the tentacles on the same leaf differ in irritability to a marked degree. My experiments were tried in the following several ways.
Firstly.—Drops which were ascertained by repeated trials to he on an average about half a minim, or the of a fluid ounce (·0296 ml.), were placed by the same pointed instrument on the discs of the leaves, and the inflection of the exterior rows of tentacles observed at successive intervals of time. It was first ascertained, from between thirty and forty trials, that distilled water dropped in this manner produces no effect, except that sometimes, though rarely, two or three tentacles become inflected. […]
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- Insectivorous Plants , pp. 136 - 173Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1875