Plant Response to Environmental Changes

I had decided to water a plant in the lab,

very similar to the plant here, just seen a cane plant.

My thought was that as the moisture arrived to the leaf of the plant,

the plant should be a better conductor and I should get a reading on the chart.

Well, strangely enough, I didn't get this at all. In fact, it did just the opposite.

Instead of the tracing

edging upward as it should have on the chart, it went into sort of a

wild excitation,

very similar to the first part of a human taking a polygraph test.

But then it occurred to me, just about 14 minutes along, what would be the real

optimum threat to the well being of a plant.

In fact, the imagery of fire entered my mind, and I not only thought,

but I fully intended to burn

the very leaf that was being tested with a match.

Now, I had no matches in the room at the time,

and I don't smoke,

and I had to go next door to my secretary's area to get a match.

But the interesting thing is that right at the split second that that imagery

of fire entered my mind, the tracing reflecting

the changes in the plant just went right off the top of the page.

And the only thing that occurred at that time, no lighting of a match, nothing else,

merely the imagery of fire.

And I must say

that as of 14 minutes along in that

initial observation on the morning of February 2nd, 1966,

my life just hasn't been the same.

Baxter hopes to show that plants react

to any termination of life in their immediate environment.

During the next six hours,

at some undetermined moment chosen by a randomizer,

these brine shrimp will fall to their deaths in boiling water.

By totally automating his equipment,

Baxter is determined to eliminate human influence.

In another room,

completely separate from his laboratory,

Baxter has placed a philodendron plant, a polygraph, and a videotape recorder.

Carefully, he places a leaf between a pair of electrodes that will monitor

the electrical activity of the plant.

As he has done during countless police interrogations, Baxter establishes a baseline

on his polygraph

to get an accurate recording of the reaction of his subjects.

Thanks for watching!