for presiding at the meeting. Lord Willingdon, in acknowledging it, said
that the vote of thanks was due to Sir Jagadis rather than to himself.
As he had anticipated in the beginning, the lecture had proved
absorbingly interesting and he was afraid Sir Jagadis's discoveries
might be positively alarming when he next visited Bombay. He hoped that
they would accord Sir Jagadis a hearty vote of thanks with "true Bombay
cordiality." After a few suitable remarks by Sir Jagadis the meeting
terminated.

--_Amrita Bazar Patrika_, 5-2-1918.

THE AUTOMATIC WRITING OF THE PLANT

On the 8th February 1918, Sir J. C. Bose delivered the following
discourse on 'The Automatic Writing of the Plant,' at the Bose
institute:--

Sir J. C. Bose spoke of two different ways of gaining knowledge, the
lesser way is by dwelling on superficial differences, the mental
attitude which makes some say 'Thank God I am not like others:' The
other way is to realise an essential unity in spite of deceptive
appearance to the contrary. He had recently been on a visit to the
western Presidency, he went there as a stranger, but he has come back
with a pang at parting from kindreds. Never in his life did he realise
so vividly as now the great unity that drew together all who regarded
India as their home and place of work. They were bound to each other by
mutual ties of dependence. He had for many years been engaged in
discovering community in physical manifestations of life. Now he has
realised an abiding unity in the highest manifestations of human life,
in community of thoughts and ideals.

In the wide expanse of life itself few things would appear so strikingly
different as the life activities in plants and in animals. But if in
spite of the seeming differences, it could be proved that these life
activities are fundamentally similar, this would undoubtedly constitute
a scientific generalisation of very great importance. It would then
follow that the complex mechanism of the animal machine, that baffled us
so long, need not remain inscrutable for all time, for the intricate
problems of animal physiology would then naturally find their solution
in the study of corresponding problems under simpler conditions of
vegetative life. That would mean an enormous advance in the science of
physiology, of agriculture, of medicine, and even of psychology.

How then are we to know what unseen changes take place within the plant?
The only conceivable way woul