Not in matter, but in thought, not in possessions or even in attainments but in ideals, are to be found the seed of immortality. Not through material acquisition but in generous diffusion of ideas and ideals can the true empire of humanity be established. Thus to Asoka to whom belonged this vast empire, bounded by the inviolate seas, after he had tried to ransom the world by giving away to the utmost, there came a time when he had nothing more to give, except one half of an Amlaki fruit. This was his last possession and anguished cry was that since he had nothing more to give, let the half of the Amlaki be accepted as his final gift.
Asoka's emblem of the Amlaki will be seen on the cornices of the Institute, and towering above all is the symbol of the thunderbolt. It was the Rishi Dadhichi, the pure and blameless, who offered his life that the divine weapon, the thunderbolt, might be fashioned out of his bones to smite evil and exalt righteousness. It is but half of the Amlaki that we can offer now. But the past shall be reborn in a yet nobler future. We stand here to-day and resume work to-morrow so that by the efforts of our lives and our unshaken faith in the future we may all help to build the greater India yet to be.
Under the presidency of Lord Ronaldshay Sir J. C. Bose delivered a lecture on Friday the 4th January 1918, at the "Bose Institute" on 'The Praying Palm-tree.' He said:
Perhaps no phenomenon is so remarkable and shrouded with greater mystery as the performances of a particular palm tree near Faridpore. In the evening while the temple bells ring calling upon people to prayer, this tree bows down as if prostrate itself. It erects its head again in the morning, and this process is repeated every day during the year. This extraordinary phenomenon has been regarded as miraculous, and pilgrims have been attracted in great numbers. It is alleged that offerings made to the tree, that is to say to the custodian of the tree, have been the means effecting marvellous cures. It is not necessary to pronounce any opinion on the subject; these cures may be taken as effective as other faith cures now so fashionable in the West.
I first obtained photographs of the two positions which proved the phenomenon to be real. The next thing was to devise special apparatus to record continuously the movement of the tree day and night. But difficulties were encountered in getting the consent of the proprietor to attach foreign instruments to the sacred tree. His misgivings were however removed when it was explained that the instruments were pure Swadeshi, being made in my Laboratory. The records of the Palm Tree showed that it fell with the rise of temperature, and rose with the fall. Records obtained with other trees brought out the extraordinary and unsuspected fact that all trees are moving—such movements being in response to changes in their environment.
SENSITIVE OR INSENSITIVE?
That not a "Mimosa" alone, but all plants are sensitive was demonstrated by some striking experiments. A spiral tendril, under electric shock was shown to writhe imitating the contortions of a tortured worm. In ordinary plants, all sides being equally sensitive contraction takes place on all directions with resulting neutral effect. Another striking experiment was to show how ordinary plants could be made sensitive by the mere process of amputation of the balancing half? Further experiments were shown demonstrating the effects of light, of warmth and other stimuli on the plant. Warmth worked antagonistically to light. The numerous permutations brought about by two changing variations were shown by a mechanical hand, which traced most complicated curves. In actual life the number of changing factors are very numerous, hence the intricacy involved in the manifestations of life.
The experiments that have been shown will help the audience to realise in some measure that the world we live in is not a theatre of caprice or chance, but that an all pervading law holds and regulates its destiny. We have seen that the vast expanse of life which is unvoiced, seemingly, so impassive, is instinct with sensibility. Thus the whole of the vegetable world, including rigid trees perceive the changes in their environment and respond to them by unmistakable signals. They thrill under light and become depressed by darkness; the warmth of summer and frost of winter, drought and rain, these and many other happenings leave a subtle impression on the life of the plant. By invention of apparatus of extreme delicacy, it is possible to make the plant itself write down the history of its own experience in a hieroglyphic which it is possible to decipher. From these pages, taken from the diary of the plant, it will perhaps be possible some day to get an insight into the great mystery that surrounds life itself. For I shall in the course of lectures given here show how the life of plants is a mere reflection of our own. I shall show how shocks and wounds affect them as they affect animals; how a common death-throb marks the crisis when life passes into death. The exuberance of life, on the other hand, will be shown by pulsing throbs of animal's heart and spontaneous beat in vegetal tissues. Another aspect of this exuberance will be shown in the imperceptible growth of plants. My recently invented Crescograph, to be exhibited at my lecture a fortnight hence, will magnify growth a million-fold and record ultra microscopic movements, smaller than a single wave length of light. By this apparatus growth will be instantaneously recorded and conditions which foster or inhibit growth discriminated. I shall demonstrate my discovery of the nervous system in plants, and show how shocks from without pass within, and how this nervous impulse modified during transit. It will further be shown how various stimulants, anesthetics and poison induce effects which are identical in man and in plant. It will be obvious how these studies will open new fields of inquiry in different branches of science; in Physiology and Psychology; in Medicine and in Agriculture.
—Amrita Bazar Patrika, 7-1-1918.