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WORK OF LOVE
WO R K OF L OV E
A Theological Reconstruction of
the Communion of Saints
LEONARD J. D E LORENZO
LCCN: 2016053422
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party
vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues
are encouraged to contact the publisher at [email protected].
To Lisa
“Forever Amen”
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
xi
xii Acknowledgments
The saints are good company. They are the heroes of the faith who blazed
new and creative paths to holiness; they are the witnesses whose testi-
monies echo throughout the ages in the memory of the Church. Most
Christians—at least most Catholics—are likely to have their own favor-
ite saints: those individuals who inspire and console believers as they pray
and struggle in the particular setting of their own lives. Much has been
written about many of these saints and even, in fact, about sainthood it-
self; however, this work is not concerned with individual saints per se.
What I seek to examine in the pages that follow is the communion of
the saints, with the conviction that what makes the saints holy and what
forms them into a communion is one and the same. Moreover, this com-
munion is vital to the life of the faithful as well as to the meaning and
destiny of all creation.
The saints testify to God’s work of love as it draws to completion.
They are the ones who desire, know, and will along with the content
and style of God’s own way of loving. This story of sanctity is enshrined
in the creed Christians profess—specifically, the Apostles’ Creed. In this
symbol, the movement from who God is to what God has done gives
way to the sanctification of life into which redeemed creatures are drawn.
In this space, the saints stand as pedagogues who witness to the full-
ness of humanity in the culmination of God’s action in the world. Put
1
2 Work of Love
another way, the saint is God’s address: in the saint, God speaks to cre-
ation, creation speaks to God, God finds his creation present, and one
finds the presence of God. In their fullness, then, the saints offer what
they represent: the communion of human persons in union with the love
of God. The saints, therefore, may only be apprehended in truth to the
degree that they are known as partakers of communion. They embody an
objective reality that demands a conversion to a distinctive mode of sub-
jective apprehension. Those who wish to know and understand this holy
communion must strain forward toward the way in which the blessed
saints abide in love (see Phil. 3:13).
As persons defined by the movement of divine love, the saints share
in the personhood of Christ. They are, as it were, the embodiment of the
love of Christ, and the communion they share comes forth as a gift and
requires a response. The gift is a unity that is not self-produced and the
response is the desire for this union to be complete. The exchange in this
giving and receiving communicates life as a being-with and a being-for,
with the expression and constitution of the communion of saints as the
accompaniment of one with and for another—unto all others. In this
communication of life, the communion of saints emerges from a desire
stronger than death.
Claiming that communion is stronger than death is no small thing.
Surely this challenge can be ameliorated by either attenuating the mean-
ing of communion or softening the closure of death; however, neither
move is compatible with the Christian faith. Christianity is concerned
with the proclamation of an unbreakable bond of communion that
pierces through the soundless darkness of death. To think rightly about
the communion of saints requires an unreserved confrontation with the
meaning (or meaninglessness) of death; to live fully toward the commu-
nion stronger than death demands a disposition to hoping in what does
not and cannot come from one’s own power alone. Taking death seri-
ously leads to reimagining the validity of acts of communication and the
bonds of communion, and this renewal of the imagination is only pos-
sible according to the form and content of revelation. This is knowledge
born in the valley of humility and it is the only path by which we can
know the saints as they are, in communion.
The belief in the communion of saints belongs to the eschatologi-
cal dimension of the Christian faith. It is, in other words, a matter of
Introduction 3
of faith to the boundaries of reason and the exiling of God from the
workings of the world into a remote realm of impenetrable mystery
into which the dead disappear. The twofold challenge to fully profess-
ing belief in the communion of saints is therefore epistemological and
theological—that is, it concerns our ways of knowing and the manner of
believing in who God is. I contend that the (un)reality of death shows
the urgency and baldness of both dimensions of this challenge.
In chapter 2, I interrogate the modern notions of death. I begin with
a socio-historical analysis of the development of customs relating to the
phenomenon of death and the correlative ways in which the surviving
community treats the dying (and the dead). I observe how these modern
approaches to death both promote and derive from an impetus to isolate
individuals from one another. I then take up a poetic proposal to some-
thing like a secular analogue to the communion of saints in the work
of Rainer Maria Rilke. What the Bohemian-Austrian poet shows is the
promise of a fertile imagination that nonetheless fails because of the con-
tent of what informs his imagination. The treatment of Rilke helps us to
see that both the energy and the content of an imagination are crucial to
properly forming the eschatological imagination. In the latter part of the
chapter, I examine modern secular philosophical approaches to death,
most notably Martin Heidegger’s but also with an eye toward Friedrich
Nietzsche. On the one hand, my task in this chapter is to critique the
prevalent inclination to ignore death and the concerted refusal to say
anything about it. On the other hand, my task is also to critique the ten-
dency to say too much about death in the wrong way. This treatment of
the distinctively modern approaches to death thus leaves us in search of
an account of death that depends on neither ignorance nor mythology.
In due course, I present the death of Jesus Christ as the key to the
true meaning (or meaninglessness) of death. His death is the unadorned
foundation upon which communion is built. In chapter 3, I thus begin
to recast death in Christian terms, leading ultimately toward the goal of
asking the question of the human person in a theological register. To do
so, I pursue a Christological keynote by following the Incarnate Word
to the extreme creaturely distance from God in the state of being dead;
only thus may we more adequately apprehend the gift of life that is given
in his Resurrection. In the course of this pursuit, I consider the human
Introduction 5
I N D E F I N ITE A RTI C L E
Looking Backward
7
8 Work of Love
communion of saints slips away. The sober confrontation with the mean-
ing (or meaninglessness) of death forces the issue of the validity of the
communion of saints. Death provides the occasion for asking the ques-
tion of the saints’ communion in the proper terms; therefore, the pri-
mary issue in the communion of saints is not actually death, but rather
divine freedom. In the silence of death, the Word of God speaks anew.
Accordingly, the axial conviction around which this present work turns is
that the communion of saints is intrinsically and inextricably connected
to the love of Christ: the Incarnate Word.
While the two following chapters deal with death more directly in
preparation for hearing this Word aright, this chapter begins by trac-
ing the development of the doctrine concerning the communion of
saints from the experience of the faithful into the baptismal creed. From
there, I attend to the ecclesial pronouncements from the Second Vati-
can Council that confirm the perennial validity of the belief in sharing
of communion among members of the Church who abide on both sides
of death, so to speak. In the final sections of the chapter I diagnose the
current state of notional and real assent to belief in this unbroken com-
munion of saints in the modern milieu in order to ultimately identify
the precise problematic with which the remainder of this work is con-
cerned. Through the turns of this chapter, I seek to elucidate how the
communion of saints—both as a reality and as a stated article of faith—
grows from and shapes a Catholic ethos, as well as how the flagging vital-
ity of belief in this communion in the practice of the faithful signals the
diminishment of the faith itself.
The term “communion of saints” most likely came from the East, where
the meaning of the expression was clear. In Greek, koinonia ton agion—
the equivalent to Latin’s communio sanctorum—unmistakably indicates
“participation in the Eucharistic elements.”2 To this day priests in the
Byzantine liturgy lift up the consecrated gifts and exclaim, “Holy things
for the holy people,”3 further locating the central meaning of the com-
munion for the Eastern Church in the sharing of the Sacraments.
Indefinite Article 9
the holy martyrs and through them with Jesus Christ. . . . It is evident that
in the fourth century the consciousness of communion with the redeemed
in heaven, who had already tasted of the fullness of the glory of Christ,
was as real and as rich in hope to the theologians as to circles of ordinary
Christians. Thus, although it involved no polemical arrière pensée, “com-
munion of saints” gave expression to conceptions which were very vividly
present to the minds of fourth and fifth century churchmen, particularly
in those regions of Western Europe where . . . the Apostles’ Creed was
molded into its final shape.7
What we hear from Kelly is that the occasion for the articulation of this
article as part of the creed arose from the devotions to the blessed dead
that were abundant and thriving in the regions where the Apostles’ Creed
developed. In other words, as the faithful exercised the faith into which
they were immersed at Baptism, they applied this faith to the veneration
of first the martyrs and then other holy witnesses. Only after this applica-
tion of the faith was exercised did it come to be recognized as normative
for the faith. Devotion drew out orthodoxy.
If Kelly’s argument is indeed well founded, then we may readily con-
clude that “the fellowship with holy persons” that these Gallic Christians
practiced was a fellowship with martyrs they had known in their time,
or the memory and testimony of whom were offered to them on behalf
of their own or other Christian communities (as in the case of Perpetua
and Felicitas). In these martyrs they saw the power of the Christian faith
spoken unto death, and their reverence for these martyrs was their own
affirmation of the validity of the promises of Christ, a promise that re-
dounds throughout the Gospels, that whoever believes in me, even if he
dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die
(John 11:25–26, NAB). They saw the martyrs as living testaments to be-
lief in Christ: these were the ones who allowed their deaths to become
the capstone of their witness. So when the Gallic Christians began to
venerate other holy witnesses—those whom presumably they had known
or whose stories of faith were, again, handed on through the Christian
communities—they exercised their imaginations to recognize that a life
lived in faith was itself a witness to the validity of the promises of Christ,
even when that life of faith did not end in martyrdom per se.
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HUMIDITY
59. Instruments. As a direct factor, humidity is intimately connected with water-content in
determining the structure and distribution of plants. The one is in control of water loss; the other
regulates water supply. Humidity as a climatic factor undergoes greater fluctuation in the same habitat,
and the efficient difference is correspondingly greater. Accordingly, simple instruments are less valuable
than automatic ones, since a continuous record is essential to a proper understanding of the real
influence of humidity. As is the rule, however, the use of simple instruments, when they can be referred
to an ecographic basis, greatly extends the field which can be studied. In investigation, both
psychrometer and psychrograph have their proper place. In the consideration of simple instruments for
obtaining humidity values, an arbitrary distinction is made between psychrometers and hygrometers.
The former consist of a wet and a dry bulb thermometer, while the latter make use of a hygroscopic awn,
hair, or other object.
Psychrometers
60. Kinds. There are three kinds of psychrometer, the sling, the cog, and the stationary. All consist of
a wet bulb and a dry bulb thermometer set in a case; the first two are designed to be moved or whirled in
the air. The same principle is applied in each, viz., that evaporation produces a decrease in temperature
proportional to the amount of moisture in the air. The dry bulb thermometer is an ordinary
thermometer, while the wet bulb is covered with a cloth that can be moistened. The former indicates the
normal temperature of the air, the latter gives the reduced temperature due to evaporation. The relative
humidity of the air is ascertained by means of the proper tables, from two terms, i. e., the air
temperature and the amount of reduction shown by the wet bulb. The sling and the cog psychrometers
alone are in general use. The stationary form has been found to be unreliable, because the moisture, as it
evaporates from the wet bulb, is not removed, and, in consequence, hinders evaporation to the proper
degree.
61. The sling psychrometer. The standard form of this is shown in the illustration, and is the one
used by the Weather Bureau. This instrument can be obtained from H. J. Green, 1191 Bedford Ave.,
Brooklyn, or Julien P. Friez, 107 E. German St., Baltimore, at a cost of $5. It consists of a metal frame to
which are firmly attached two accurately standardized thermometers, reading usually from –30° to 130°.
The frame is attached at the uppermost end to a handle in such fashion that it swings freely. The wet
bulb thermometer is placed lower, chiefly to aid in wetting the cloth more readily. The cloth for the wet
bulb should be always of the same texture and quality; the standard used by the Weather Bureau can be
obtained from the instrument makers. A slight difference in texture makes no appreciable error, but the
results obtained with different instruments and by different observers will be more trustworthy and
comparable if the same cloth be used in all cases. The jacket for the wet bulb may be sewed in the form
of a close-fitting bag, which soon shrinks and clings tightly. It may be made in the field by wrapping the
cloth so that the edges just overlap, and tying it tightly above and below the bulb. In either case, a single
layer of cloth alone must be used. The cloth becomes soiled or thin after a few months’ constant use and
should be replaced. It is a wise precaution to carry a small piece of psychrometer cloth in the field outfit.
62. Readings. All observations should be made facing the wind, and the observer should move one
or two steps during the reading to prevent the possibility of error. The cloth of the wet bulb is moistened
with water by means of a brush, or, much better, it is dipped directly into a bottle of water. Distilled
water is preferable, as it contains no dissolved material to accumulate in the cloth. Tap-water and the
water of streams may be used without appreciable error, if the cloth is changed somewhat more
frequently. The temperature of the water is practically negligible under ordinary conditions. Readings
can be made more quickly, however, when the temperature is not too far from that of the air. The
psychrometer is held firmly and swung rapidly through the air when the space is not too confined.
Where there is danger of breakage, it is swung back and forth through a short arc, pendulum-fashion. As
the reading must be made when the mercury of the wet bulb reaches the lowest point, the instrument is
stopped from time to time and the position of the column noted. The lowest point is often indicated by
the tendency of the mercury to remain stationary; as a rule it can be noted with certainty when the next
glance shows a rise in the column. In following the movement, and especially in noting the final reading,
great care must be taken to make the latter before
the mercury begins to rise. For this reason it is
desirable to shade the psychrometer with the
body when looking at it, and to take pains not to
breathe upon the bulbs nor to bring them too
near the body. At the moment when the wet bulb
registers the lowest point, the dry bulb should be
read and the results recorded.
63. Cog psychrometer. This instrument,
commonly called the “egg-beater” psychrometer,
has been devised to obviate certain disadvantages
of the sling psychrometer in field work, and has
entirely supplanted the latter in the writer’s own
studies. It is smaller, more compact, and the
danger of breaking in carriage or in use is almost
nil. It has the great advantage of making it
possible to take readings in a layer of air less than
two inches in thickness, and in any position.
Fairly accurate results can even be obtained from
transpiring leaves. The instrument can readily be
made by a good mechanic, at a cost for materials
of $1.75, which is less than half the price for the
sling form. A single drawback exists in the use of
short, Centigrade thermometers, inasmuch as
tables of relative humidity are usually expressed
in Fahrenheit. It is a simple matter, however, to
convert Centigrade degrees into Fahrenheit,
mentally, or the difficulty may be avoided by the
conversion table shown on page 47, or by
constructing a Centigrade series of humidity
tables. The fact that the wet and dry bulbs revolve
in the same path has raised a doubt concerning
the accuracy of the results obtained with this
instrument. Repeated comparisons with the sling
psychrometer have not only removed this doubt
completely, but have also proved that the
standardization of the thermometers has been
efficient.
64. Construction and use. A convenient
form of egg-beater is the Lyon (Albany, New
York), in which the revolving plates can be readily
removed, leaving the axis and the frame. The
thermometers used are of the short Centigrade
type. They are 4½ inches long and read from –5°
to 50°. Eimer and Amend, 205 Third Ave., New
York city, furnish them at 75 cents each. The
thermometers are carefully standardized and
compared, and then grouped in pairs that read
together. Each pair is used to construct a
particular psychrometer. Each thermometer is
strongly wired to one side of the frame, pieces of
felt being used to protect the tube and increase
the contact. The frame is also bent at the base
angles to permit free circulation of air about the
thermometer bulbs. The bulb of one thermometer
is covered with the proper cloth, and the
psychrometer is finished. Since the frame
revolves with the thermometers, it is necessary to
pour the water on the wet bulb, or to employ a
pipette or brush. The thermometer bulbs are
placed in the layer to be studied, and the frame
rotated at an even rate and with moderate
rapidity. The observation is further made as in
the case of the sling psychrometer. As the circle of
rotation is less than three inches in diameter, and
the layer less than an inch, in place of nearly three
feet for the sling form, the instrument should not
be moved at all for extremely localized readings,
but it must be moved considerably, a foot or
more, if it is desirable to obtain a more general
reading.
65. Hygrometers. While there are
instruments designed to indicate the humidity by
means of a hygroscopic substance, not one of
them seems to be of sufficient accuracy for use in
ecological study. The difficulty is that the
hygroscopic reaction is inconstant, rather than
that the instruments are not sufficiently sensitive.
A number of hygrometers have been tested, and
in all the error has been found to be great, varying
usually from 10–20 per cent. In the middle of the
scale they sometimes read more accurately, but
toward either extreme they are very inexact. It
seems probable that an accurate hygrometer can
be constructed only after the model of the Draper
psychrograph. Its weight and bulk would make it
an impossible instrument for field trips, and the
expense of one would provide a dozen
psychrometers. In consequence, it does not seem
too sweeping to say that no hygrometer can
furnish trustworthy results. Of simple
instruments for humidity, the psychrometer alone
can be trusted to give reliable readings. Crova’s
hygrometer, used by Hesselmann, is not a
hygrometer in the sense indicated. As it is much
less convenient to handle and to operate than the
cog psychrometer, it is not necessary to describe
it.
Psychrographs
67. Placing the instrument. The psychrograph should be located in a place where the circulation
of the air is typical of the station observed. A satisfactory shelter will screen the instrument from sun and
rain, and at the same time permit the air to pass freely through the perforations of the metal case. The
form shown in figure 8 meets both of these conditions. A desirable modification is effected by fastening a
strip about the cover of such depth as to prevent the sun’s rays from striking the case except when the
sun is near the horizon. A cross block is fastened on the post of the shelter after being exactly leveled.
The psychrograph rests upon this block, which is three feet above the ground in order to avoid the
influence of radiation. The instrument is held in position by slipping the eye over a small-headed nail
driven obliquely. It does not hang from the latter, but must rest firmly upon the cross block. The post is
set to a depth that prevents oscillation in the wind, which is liable to obscure the record. In shallow
mountain soils stability is attained by fastening a broad board at the base of the post before setting it.
When two or more psychrographs are established in different habitats, great pains are taken to set them
up in exactly the same way. The shelters are alike, the height above the soil the same, and the
instruments all face the south.
68. Regulating and operating the instrument. When two or more psychrographs are to be used
in series, they must be compared with each other in the same spot for several days until they run exactly
together with respect to per cent of humidity and to time. During this comparison they are checked by
the psychrometer and so regulated that they register the proper humidity. When a single instrument is
used alone as the basis to which simple readings may be referred, all regulating may well be done after
the instrument is in position. This is a simple process; it is accomplished by obtaining the relative
humidity beneath the shelter and at the proper height by a psychrometer. The pen hand is then moved
to the proper line on the disk by means of the screws at its base. These are reached by removing the
lettered glass face. The thumbscrew on the side opposite the direction in which the pen is to move is
released, and the opposite screw simultaneously tightened, until the pen remains upon the proper line.
Experience has proved that the record sheet should be correctly labeled and dated before being placed
on the disk. In the press of field duties, records labeled after removal are liable to be confused. It is
likewise a great saving of time to write the date of the month in the margin of each segment. Care is
taken to place the sheet on the disk in the same position each time; this can easily be done by seeing that
the sharp point on the disk penetrates the same spot on the paper. A single drop of ink in the pen will
usually give the most satisfactory line. A thin line is read most accurately. If the pen point is too fine,
however, the ink does not flow readily, and the point should be slightly blunted by means of a file. More
often the line is too broad and the pen must be carefully pointed. Occasionally the pen does not touch
the sheet, and it becomes necessary to bend the hand slightly. This is a frequent difficulty if the records
are folded or wrinkled, and consequently the sheets should always be kept flat.
69. The weekly visit. Psychrographs must be visited, checked, rewound, and inked every week.
Whenever possible this should be done regularly at a specified day and hour. This is especially desirable
if the same record sheet is used for more than one week. Time and energy are saved by a fixed order for
the various tasks to be done at each visit. After opening the instrument the disk is removed, and the
clock wound, and, if need be, regulated. The record sheet is replaced, the disk again put on the clock
arbor, and the pen replenished with a drop of ink. A psychrometer reading is made, and the results in
terms of relative humidity noted at the proper place on the disk sheet. If the psychrograph vary more
than 1 per cent, it is adjusted to read accurately. In practice it has been found a great convenience to
keep each record sheet in position for three weeks, and the time may easily be extended to four. In this
event, the pen is carefully cleaned with blotting paper at each visit, and is then refilled with an ink of
different color. To prevent confusion, the three different colored inks are always used in the same order,
red for the first week, blue for the second, and green for the third. The advantages of this plan are
obvious: fewer records are used and less time is spent in changing them. The records of several weeks
are side by side instead of on separate sheets, and in working over the season’s results, it is necessary to
handle but a third as many sheets.
The Draper psychrograph is made by the Draper Manufacturing Company, 152 Front St., New York
city. The price is $30. A few record sheets and a bottle of red ink are furnished with it. Additional
records can be obtained at 3 cents each. The inks are 25–50 cents per bottle, depending upon the color.
70. The time of readings. If simple instruments alone are used for determining humidity, readings
are practically without value unless made simultaneously through several stations, or successively at
one. When it is possible to combine these, and to make psychrometer readings at different habitats for
each hour of the day, or at the same hour for several days, the series is of very great value. Single
readings are unreliable on account of the hourly and daily variations of humidity, but when these
changes are recorded by a psychrograph, such readings at once become of use, whether made in the
same habitat with the recording instrument or elsewhere. In the latter case, one reading will tell little
about the normal humidity of the habitat, but several make a close estimate possible. When a series of
psychrographs is in use, accurate observations can be made to advantage anywhere at any time. As a
rule, however, it has been found most convenient to make simple readings at 6:00 A.M., 1:00 P.M., and
6:00 P.M., as these hours afford much evidence in regard to the daily range. A good time also is that at
which the temperature maximum occurs each day, but this is movable and in the press of field work can
rarely be taken advantage of. A very fair idea of the daily mean humidity is obtainable by averaging the
readings made at the hours already indicated. The comparison of single readings with the psychrograph
record should not be made at a time when a rapid change is occurring, as the automatic instrument does
not respond immediately. Such a condition is usually represented by a sudden rain, and is naturally not
a satisfactory time for single readings in any event.
71. Place and height. As stated above, the psychrograph is placed three feet above the surface of the
ground in making readings for the comparison of stations. In low, herbaceous formations, the
instrument is usually placed within a few inches of the soil in order to record the humidity of the air in
which the plants are growing. In forest formations, the moisture often varies considerably in the
different layers. This variation is easily determined by simultaneous psychrometer readings in the
several layers, or, if occasion warrants, a series of psychrographs may be used. In field work the rule has
been to make observations with the psychrometer at 6 feet, 3 feet, and the surface of the soil, but the
reading at the height of 3 feet is ordinarily
sufficient. Humidity varies so easily that several
readings in different parts of one formation are
often desirable. In comparing different
formations, the readings should be made in
corresponding situations, for example, in the
densest portion of each.
72. Check instruments. Humidity is so
readily affected by temperature, wind, and
pressure, that a knowledge of these factors is
essential to an understanding of its fluctuations.
Pressure, disregarding daily variation, is taken
account of in the tables for ascertaining relative
humidity, and is determined once for all when the
altitude of a station has been carefully
established. The temperature is obtained directly
from the dry bulb reading. Its value is
fundamental, as the amount of moisture in a
given space is directly affected by it; like pressure,
it also is taken account of in the formula. The
movement of the air has an immediate influence
upon moisture by mixing the air of different
habitats and layers. So far as the plant is
concerned, it has practically the effect of
increasing or decreasing the humidity by the
removal of the air above it. Thus, while the
anemometer can furnish no direct evidence as to
the amount of variation, it is of aid in explaining
the reason for it. Likewise, the rate of evaporation
as indicated by a series of atmometers, affords a
ready method of estimating the comparative
effect of humidity in different habitats.
Potometers and other instruments for measuring
transpiration throw much light upon humidity
values. Since they are concerned with the
response of the plant to humidity, they are
considered in the following chapter.
73. Humidity tables. To ascertain the
relative humidity, the difference between the wet
and dry bulb readings is obtained. This, with the
dry bulb temperature, is referred to the tables,
where the corresponding humidity is found. A
variation in temperature has less effect than a
variation in the difference; in consequence, the
dry bulb reading is expressed in the nearest unit,
and the difference reckoned to the nearest .5. The
humidity varies with the air pressure. Hence, the
altitude must be determined for the base station,
and for all others that show much change in
elevation. Within the ordinary range of growing-
period temperatures, the effect of pressure is not
great. For all ordinary cases, it suffices to
compute tables for pressures of 30, 29, 27, 25,
and 23 inches. The following table indicates the
decrease in pressure which is due to altitude.
Fig. 9. Atmometer.
ALTITUDE PRESSURE
Feet Meters Inches Centimeters
0 0 30 76
910 277 29 73.5
1850 574 28 71
2820 860 27 68.5
3820 1165 26 66
4850 1477 25 63.5
5910 1792 24 61
7010 2138 23 58.5
8150 2485 22 56
9330 2845 21 53.5
10550 3217 20 51
13170 4016 18 46
16000 4880 16 41
The fluctuations of pressure due to weather are usually so slight that their influence may be
disregarded. An excellent series of tables of relative humidity is found in Marvin’s Psychrometric Tables,
published by the U. S. Weather Bureau, and to be obtained from the Division of Publications,
Washington, D. C., for 10 cents. A convenient field form is made by removing the portion containing the
tables of relative humidity, and binding it in stiff oilcloth.
74. Sums, means, and curves. An approximate humidity sum can be obtained by adding the
absolute humidities for each of the twenty-four hours, and expressing the results in grains per cubic foot.
It is possible to establish a general ratio between this sum and the transpiration sum of the plant, but its
value is not great at present. Means of absolute and of relative humidity are readily determinable from
the psychrograph records; the latter are the most useful. The mean of relative humidity for the twenty-
four hours of a day is the average of the twenty-four hour humidities. From these means the seasonal
mean is computed in the same manner. A close approximation, usually within 1 degree, may be obtained
in either case by averaging the maximum and minimum for the period concerned. Various kinds of
curves are of value in representing variation in humidity. Obviously, these must be derived from the
psychrograph, or from the psychrometer when the series is sufficiently complete. The level curve
indicates the variation in different stations at the same time. These may be combined in a series for the
comparison of readings made at various heights in the stations. The day or point curve shows the
fluctuations during the day of one point, and the station curve the variation at different heights in the
same station. The curves of successive days or of different stations may of course be combined on the
same sheet for comparison. Level and station curves based upon mean relative humidities are especially
valuable.
75. Records. A field form is obviously unnecessary for the psychrograph. The record sheets
constitute both a field and permanent record. The altitude and other constant features of the station and
the list of species, etc., are entered on the back of the first record sheet, or, better, they are noted in the
permanent formation record. For psychrometer readings, whether single or in series, the following
record form is employed:
Fig. 10. Conversion scale for temperatures.
Height NOTES
Dry Wet Rel. Base Abs.
Date Hour Formation Station Altitude Community of Diff.
bulb bulb Hum. Hum. Hum. Sky Rain Wind
reading
6:20 Brook
15/8/’04 Spruce 2500 m Mertensiare 1 ft. 51° 46° 5 72% 63% 2.9 Clear 0 0
A.M. bank
„ „ Half gravel Hiawatha „ Asterare „ 56° 49° 7 64% 63% 3.0 „ 0 0
6:45 Brook
„ Spruce „ Mertensiare „ 54° 52° 2 89% 69% 4.2 „ 2 cc. 0
P.M. bank
„ „ Half gravel Hiawatha „ Asterare „ 56° 52° 4 79% 69% 4.0 „ 2 cc. 0
On page 47 is given a table for the conversion of Centigrade into Fahrenheit temperatures. This may be
done mentally by means of the formula F = C/5 × 9 + 32°.
LIGHT
76. Methods. All methods for measuring light intensity, which have been at all satisfactory, are
based upon the fact that silver salts blacken in the light. The first photographic method was proposed by
Bunsen and Roscoe in 1862; this has been taken up by Wiesner and variously modified. After
considerable experiment by the writer, however, it seemed desirable to abandon all methods which
require the use of “normal paper” and “normal black” and to develop a simpler one. As space is lacking
for a satisfactory discussion of the Bunsen-Roscoe-Wiesner methods, the reader is referred to the works
cited below.[4] Simple photometers for making light readings simultaneously or in series were
constructed in 1900, and have been in constant use since that time. An automatic instrument capable of
making accurate continuous records proved to be a more difficult problem. A sunshine recorder was
ultimately found which yields valuable results, and very recently a recording photometer which promises
to be perfectly satisfactory has been devised. Since the hourly and daily variations of sunlight in the
same habitat are relatively small, automatic photometers are perhaps a convenience rather than a
necessity.
The Photometer
80. The Dawson-Lander sun recorder. “The instrument consists of a small outer cylinder of
copper which revolves with the sun, and through the side of which is cut a narrow slit to allow the
sunshine to impinge on a strip of sensitive paper, wound round a drum which fits closely inside the outer
cylinder, but is held by a pin so that it can not rotate. By means of a screw fixed to the lid of the outer
cylinder, the drum holding the sensitive paper is made to travel endwise down the outer tube, one-eighth
of an inch daily, so that a fresh portion of the sensitive surface is brought into position to receive the
record.” The instrument is driven by an eight-day clock placed in the base below the drum. The slit is
covered by means of a flattened funnel-shaped hood, and the photographic strip is protected from rain
by a perfectly transparent sheet of celluloid. The detailed structure of the instrument is shown in figure
12. This instrument may be obtained from Lander and Smith, Canterbury, England, for $35.
In setting up the sunshine recorder, the axis should be placed in such a position that the angle which it
makes with the base is the same as the altitude of the place where the observations are made. This is
readily done by loosening the bolts at either side. The drum is removed, the celluloid sheet unwound by
means of the key which holds it in place, the sensitive strip put in position, and the sheet again wound
up. Strips of a special sensitive paper upon which the hours are indicated are furnished by the makers of
the instrument, but it has been found preferable to use solio strips in order to facilitate comparison with
the standards. The drum is placed on the axis, and is screwed up until it just escapes the collar at the top
of the spiral. The clock is wound and started, and the outer cylinder put on so that the proper hour mark
coincides with the index on the front of the base.
As a sunshine recorder, the instrument gives a perfect record, in which the varying intensities are
readily recognizable. Since the cylinder moves one-half inch in an hour, and the slit is .01 of an inch, the
time of each exposure is 72 seconds. This gives a very deep color on the solio paper, which results in a
serious error in making comparisons with the standard. On account of the hood, diffuse light is not
recorded when it is too weak to cast a distinct shadow. It seems probable that this difficulty will be
overcome by the use of a flat disk containing the proper slit, and in this event the instrument will
become of especial value for measuring the diffuse light of layered formations. The celluloid sheet
constitutes a source of error in sunlight on account of the reflection which it causes. This can be
prevented by using the instrument only on sunny days, when the protection of the sheet can be
dispensed with.
81. The selagraph. This instrument is at present under construction, and can only be described in a
general way. In principle it is a simple photometer operating automatically. It consists of a light-tight
box preferably of metal, which contains an eight-day lever clock. Attached to the arbor of the latter is a
disk 7 inches in diameter bearing on its circumference a solio strip 1 cm. wide and 59 cm. long. The
opening in the box for exposure is 6 mm. square and is controlled by a photographic shutter. The latter
is constructed so that it may be set for 5, 10, or 20 seconds, since a single period of exposure can not
serve for both sun and shade. The shutter is tripped once every two hours, by means of a special wheel
revolving once a day. Each exposure is 6 mm. square, and is separated by a small space from the next
one. Twelve exposures are made every 24 hours, and 84 during the week, though, naturally, the daytime
exposures alone are recorded. Comparisons with the multiple standard are made exactly as in the case of
the simple photometer. The selagraph is made by the C. H. Stoelting Co., Chicago, Illinois.
Standards
82. Use. The light value of each exposure is determined by reference to a standard. When the
photometer carries a permanent standard, each exposure is brought to the tint of the latter, and its value
is indicated by the time ratio between them. Thus, if the standard is the result of a 5–second exposure to
full sunlight at meridian, and a reading which corresponds in color requires 100 seconds in the habitat
concerned, the light of the latter is twenty times weaker or more diffuse. Usually, the standard is
regarded as unity, and light values figured with reference to it, as .05. With the selagraph such a use of
the standard is impossible, and often, also, with the photometer it is unnecessary or not desirable. The
value of each exposure in such case is obtained by matching it with a multiple standard, after the entire
strip has been exposed. The further steps are those already indicated. After the exact tint in the standard
has been found, the length of the reading in seconds is divided by the time of the proper standard, and
the result expressed as above.
83. Making a standard. Standards are obtained by exposing the photometer at meridian on a
typically clear day, and in the field where there is the least dust and smoke. Exception to the latter may
be made, of course, in obtaining standards for plant houses located in cities, though it is far better to
have the same one for both field and control experiment. Usable standards can be obtained on any
bright day at the base station. Indeed, valuable results are often secured by immediate successive sun
and shade readings in adjacent habitats, where the sun reading series is the sole standard. Preferably,
standards should be made at the solstices or equinoxes, and at a representative station. The June solstice
is much to be preferred, as it represents the maximum light values of the year. Lincoln has been taken as
the base station for the plains and mountains. It is desirable, however, that a national or international
station be ultimately selected for this purpose, in order that light values taken in different parts of the
world may be readily compared.
84. Kinds of standards. The base standard is the one taken at Lincoln (latitude 41° N.) at meridian
June 20–22. This is properly the unit to which all exposures are referred, but it has been found
convenient to employ the Minnehaha standard as the base for the Colorado mountains, in order to avoid
reducing each time. Relative standards are frequently used for temporary purposes. Thus, in comparing
the light intensities of a series of formations, one to five standards are exposed on the solio strip before
beginning the series of readings. Proof standards are the exposed solio strips, which fade in the light,
and can, in consequence, be kept only a few weeks without possibility of error. The fading can be
prevented by “toning” the strip, but in this event the exposures must be fixed in like manner before they
can be compared. This process is inconvenient and time-consuming. It is also open to considerable
error, as the time of treatment, strength of solution, etc., must be exactly equivalent in all instances.
Permanent standards are accurate water-color copies of the originals obtained by the photometer. These
have the apparent disadvantage of requiring a double comparison or matching, but after a little practice
it is possible to reproduce the solio tints so that the copy is practically indistinguishable from the
original. The most satisfactory method is to make a long stroke of color on a pure white paper, since a
broad wash is not quite homogeneous, and then to reject such parts of the stroke as do not match
exactly. Permanent standards fade after a few month’s use, and must be replaced by parts of the original
stroke. Single standards are made by one exposure, while multiple ones have a series of exposures filling
a whole light strip. These are regularly obtained by making the exposures from 1–10 seconds
respectively, and then increasing the length of each successive exposure by 2 seconds. Single exposures
of 1–5 seconds as desired usually serve as the basis for permanent standards, but a multiple standard
may also be copied in permanent form. Exposures for securing standards must be made only under the
most favorable conditions, and the length in seconds must be exact. The use of the stop-watch is
imperative, except where access may be had to an astronomical clock with a large second hand, which is
even more satisfactory. The length of time necessary for the series desired is reckoned beforehand, and
the exposures begun so that the meridian falls in the middle of the process.
Single standards are exceedingly convenient in photometer readings, but they are open to one
objection. In the sunshine it is necessary to make instant decision upon the accuracy of the match, or the
exposure becomes too deep. In the shade where the action is slower, this difficulty is not felt. For this
reason it is usually desirable to check the results by a multiple standard, and in the case of selagraph
records, where the various exposures show a wide range of tint, light values are obtainable only by direct
comparison with the multiple standard. The exact matching of exposure and standard requires great
accuracy, but with a little practice this may be done with slight chance of error by merely moving the
exposure along the various tints of the standard until the proper shade is found. The requisite skill is
soon acquired by running over a strip of exposures several times until the comparisons always yield the
same results for each. The margin of error is practically negligible when the same person makes all the
comparisons, and in the case of two or three working on the same reading the results diverge little or not
at all. The efficient difference for light is much more of a variable than is the case with water-content. It
has been determined so far only for a few species, all of which seem to indicate that appreciable
modification in the form or structure of a leaf does not occur until the reduction in intensity reaches .1 of
the meridian sunlight at the June solstice. The error of comparison is far less than this, and
consequently may be ignored, even in the most painstaking inquiry.
Readings
85. Time. The intensity of the light incident upon a habitat varies periodically with the hour and the
day, and changes in accord with the changing conditions of the sky. The light variations on cloudy days
can only be determined by the photometer. While these can not be ignored, proper comparisons can be
instituted only between the readings taken on normal days of sunshine. The sunlight varies with the
altitude of the sun, i. e., the angle which its rays make with the surface at a given latitude. This angle
reaches a daily maximum at meridian. The yearly maximum falls on June 22, and the angle decreases in
both directions through the year to a minimum on December 22. At equal distances from either solstice,
the angle is the same, e. g., on March 21 and September 23. At Lincoln (41° N. latitude) the extremes at
meridian are 73° and 26°; at Minnehaha (39°) they are 75° and 28°. The extremes for any latitude may
be found by subtracting its distance in degrees north of the two tropics from 90. Thus, the 50th parallel
is 26.5° north of the tropic of Cancer, and the maximum altitude of the sun at a place upon it is 63.5°. It
is 73.5° north of the tropic of Capricorn, and the minimum meridional altitude is 16.5°.
The changes in the amount of light due to the altitude of the sun are produced by the earth’s
atmosphere. The absorption of light rays is greatest near the horizon, where their pathway through the
atmosphere is longest, and it is least at the zenith. The absorption, and, consequently, the relative
intensity of sunlight, can be determined at a given place for each hour of any sunshiny day by the use of
chart 13. This chart has been constructed for Lincoln, and will serve for all places within a few degrees of
the 40th parallel. The curves which show the altitude of the sun at the various times of the day and the
year have been constructed by measurements upon the celestial globe. Each interval between the
horizontal lines represents 2 degrees of the sun’s altitude. The vertical lines indicate time before or after
the apparent noon, the intervals corresponding to 10 minutes. If the relative intensity at Lincoln on
March 12 at 3:00 P.M. is desired, the apparent noon for this day must first be determined. A glance at the
table shows that the sun crosses the meridian on this day at 9 minutes 53 seconds past noon at the 90th
meridian. The apparent noon at Lincoln is found by adding 26 minutes 49 seconds, the difference in
time between Lincoln and a point on the 90th meridian. When the sun is fast, the proper number of
minutes is taken from 26 minutes 49 seconds. The apparent noon on March 12 is thus found to fall at
12:37 P.M., and 3:00 P.M. is 2 hours and 23 minutes later. The sun’s altitude is accordingly 36°. If the
intensity of the light which reaches the earth’s surface when the sun is at zenith is taken as 1, the table of
the sun’s altitudes gives the intensity at 3:00 P.M. on March 12 as .85.
For places with a latitude differing by several degrees from that of Lincoln, it is necessary to construct
a new table of altitude curves from the celestial globe. It is quite possible to make a close approximation
of this from the table given, since the maximum and minimum meridional altitude, and hence the
corresponding light intensity, can be obtained as indicated above. For Minnehaha, which is on the 105th
meridian, and for other places on standard meridians, i. e., 60°, 75°, 90°, and 120° W., the table of
apparent noon indicates the number of minutes to be added to 12 noon, standard time, when the sun is
slow, and to be subtracted when the sun is fast. The time at a place east or west of a standard meridian is
respectively faster or slower than the latter. The exact difference in minutes is obtained from the
difference in longitude by the equation, 15° = 1 hour. Thus, Lincoln, 96° 42′ W. is 6° 42′ west of the
standard meridian of 90°; it is consequently 26 minutes 49 seconds slower, and this time must always be
added to the apparent noon as determined from the chart. At a place east of a standard meridian, the
time difference is, of course, subtracted.
Fig. 13. Chart for the determination of the sun’s altitude, and the corresponding light intensity.
The actual differences in the light intensity from hour to hour and day to day, which are caused by
variations in the sun’s altitude, are not as great as might be expected. For example, the maximum
intensity at Lincoln, June 22, is .98; the minimum meridional intensity December 22 is .73. The
extremes on June 22 are .98 and .33 (the latter at 6:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. approximately); between 8:00
A.M. and 4:00 P.M. the range in intensity is from .90 to .98 merely. On December 22, the greatest
intensity is .52, the least .20 (the latter at 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. approximately). If the growing season
be taken as beginning with the 1st of March and closing the 1st of October, the greatest variation in light
intensity at Lincoln within a period of 10 hours with the meridian at its center (cloudy days excepted) is
from .33 to .98. In a period of 8 hours, the extremes are .65 to .98, i. e., the greatest variation, .3, is far
within the efficient difference, which has been put at .9. For the growing period, then, readings made
between 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. on normal sunshiny days may be compared directly, without taking into
account the compensation for the sun’s altitude. Until the efficient difference has been determined for a
large number of species, however, it seems wise to err on the safe side and to compensate for great
differences in time of day or year. In all doubtful cases, the intensity obtained by the astronomical
method should also be checked by photometric readings. A slight error probably enters in, due to
reflection from the surface of the paper, and to temperature, but this is negligible.
86. Table for determining apparent noon
DATE TIME EQUATION LINCOLN NOON
Sun slow: + 26m. 49s.
January 1 3m. 47s. 12:31 P.M.
„ 6 6 7 :33
„ 11 8 12 :35
„ 16 10 3 :37
„ 21 11 35 :38
„ 26 12 48 :40
„ 31 13 41 :40
February 10 14 27 :41
„ 20 13 56 :41
March 2 12 18 :39
„ 7 11 10 :38
„ 12 9 53 :37
„ 17 8 29 :36
„ 22 6 59 :34
„ 27 5 27 :32
April 1 3 55 :31
„ 6 2 27 :29
„ 11 1 3 :28
Sun fast: −
„ 16 0 13 :27
„ 21 1 20 :25
„ 26 2 16 :24
May 1 3 0 :24
„ 16 3 48 :23
„ 31 2 33 :24
June 5 1 45 :25
„ 10 0 49 :26
Sun slow: +
„ 15 0 13 :27
„ 20 1 18 :28
„ 25 2 22 :29
„ 30 3 22 :30
Sun slow: + 26m. 49s.
July 5 4m. 19s. 12:31 P.M.
„ 10 5 7 :32
„ 20 6 6 :33
August 4 5 53 :33
„ 14 4 30 :31
„ 19 3 28 :30
„ 24 2 13 :29
„ 29 0 48 :28
Sun fast: −
September 3 0 45 :26
„ 8 2 25 :24
„ 13 4 9 :23
„ 18 5 55 :21
„ 23 7 41 :19
„ 28 9 23 :17
October 3 10 59 :16
„ 8 12 26 :14
„ 13 13 43 :13
„ 18 14 48 :12
„ 23 15 37 :11
November 2 16 20 :10
„ 12 15 45 :11
„ 17 14 54 :12
„ 22 13 44 :13
„ 27 12 14 :15
December 2 10 25 :16
„ 7 8 21 :18
„ 12 6 5 :21
„ 17 3 41 :23
„ 22 1 12 :26
Sun slow: +
„ 27 1 17 :28
87. Place. The effect of latitude upon the sun’s altitude, and the consequent light intensity have been
discussed in the pages which precede. Latitude has also a profound influence upon the duration of
daylight, but the importance of the latter apart from intensity is not altogether clear. The variation of
intensity due to altitude has been greatly overestimated; it is practically certain, for example, that the
dwarf habit of alpine plants is not to be ascribed to intense illumination, since the latter increases but
slightly with the altitude. It has been demonstrated astronomically that about 20 per cent of a vertical
ray of sunlight is absorbed by the atmosphere by the time it reaches sea level. At the summit of Pike’s
Peak, which is 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) high, the barometric pressure is 17 inches, and the absorption
is approximately 11 per cent. In other words, the light at sea level is 80 per cent of that which enters the
earth’s atmosphere; on the summit of Pike’s Peak it is 89 per cent. As the effect of the sun’s altitude is
the same in both places, the table of curves on page 57 will apply to both. Taking into account the
difference in absorption, the maximum intensity at sea level and at 14,000 feet on the fortieth parallel is
.98 and 1.09 respectively. The minimum intensities between 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. of the growing
period are .64 and .71 respectively. The correctness of these figures has been demonstrated by
photometer readings, which have given almost exactly the same results. Such slight variations are quite
insufficient to produce an appreciable adjustment, particularly in structure. They are far within the
efficient difference, and Reinke[5] has found, moreover, that photosynthetic activity in Elodea is not
increased beyond the normal in sunlight sixty times concentrated. In consequence, it is entirely
unnecessary to take account of different altitudes in obtaining light values.
The slope of a habitat exerts a considerable effect upon the intensity of the incident light. If the angle
between the slope and the sun’s ray be 90°, a square meter of surface will receive the maximum
intensity, 1. At an angle of 10°, the same area receives but .17 of the light. This relation between angle
and intensity is shown in the table which follows. The influence of the light, however, is felt by the leaf,
not by the slope. Since there is no connection between the position of the leaf and the slope of the
habitat, the latter may be ignored. In consequence, it is unnecessary to make allowances for the direction
of a slope, viz., whether north, east, south, or west, in so far as light values are concerned. The angle
which a leaf makes with its stem determines the angle of incidence, and hence the amount of light
received by the leaf surface. This is relatively unimportant for two reasons. This angle changes hourly
and daily with the altitude of the sun, and the intensity constantly swings from one extreme to the other.
Moreover, the extremes 1.00 and 0.17, even if constant, are hardly sufficient to produce a measurable
result. When the angle of the leaf approaches 90°, there is the well-known differentiation of leaf surfaces
and of chlorenchym, but this has no relation to the angle of incidence.
ANGLE INTENSITY
90 1.00
80 .98
70 .94
60 .87
50 .77
40 .64
30 .50
20 .34
10 .17
In the sunlight, it makes no difference at what height a light reading is taken. In forest and thicket as
well as in some herbaceous formations, the intensity of the light, if there is any difference, is greatest just
beneath the foliage of the facies. In forests especially, the light is increasingly diffuse toward the ground,
particularly where layers intervene. In woodland formations, moreover, the exact spot in which a
reading is made must be carefully chosen, unless the foliage is so dense that the shade is uniform. A very
satisfactory plan is to take readings in two or more spots where the shade appears to be typical, and to
make a check reading in a “sunfleck,” a spot where sunlight shows through. In forests and thickets, the
sunflecks are fleeting, and the light value is practically that of the shade. In passing into open woodland
and thicket, the sunflecks increase in size and permanence, until finally they exceed the shade areas in
amount and become typical of the formation.
88. The fate of incident light. The light present in a habitat and incident upon a leaf is not all
available for photosynthesis. Part is reflected or screened out by the epidermis, and a certain amount
passes through the chlorenchym, except in very thick leaves. The light absorbed is by far the greatest in
the majority of species. Many plants with dense coatings of hairs reflect or withhold more light than they
absorb, and the amount of light reflected by a thick cuticule is likewise great. As light is imponderable,
the actual amount absorbed or reflected by the leaf can not be determined. It is possible, however, to
express this in terms of the total amount received, by means of readings with solio paper, and the
knowledge thus obtained is of great importance in interpreting the modifications of certain types of
leaves. For example, a leaf with a densely hairy epidermis may receive light of the full intensity, 1; the
amount reflected or screened out by the hairs may be 95 per cent of this, the amount absorbed 5 per
cent, and that transmitted, nil. In the majority of cases, however, the absorbed light is considerably more
than the amount reflected or transmitted.
89. Methods of determination. If results
are to be of value, reflected and transmitted light
must be determined in the habitat of the plant
simultaneously with the total light which a leaf
receives. An approximation of the light reflected
from a leaf surface is secured by placing the
photometer so that the light reflected is thrown
upon the solio strip. A much more satisfactory
method, however, is to determine it in connection
with the amount of light transmitted through the
epidermis. This is done by stripping a piece of
epidermis from the upper surface of the leaf and
placing it over the slit in the photometer for an
exposure. An exposure in the full light of the
habitat is made simultaneously with another
photometer, or immediately afterward upon the
same strip. When the epidermis is not too dense,
both exposures are permitted to reach the same
tint, and the relation between them is precisely
that of their lengths of exposure. Ordinarily the
two exposures are made absolutely simultaneous
by placing the epidermis over half of the opening,
leaving the other half to record the full light
value, and the results, or epidermis prints, are
referred to a multiple standard. The difference
between the two values thus obtained represents
the amount of reflected light together with that
screened by the epidermis. The amount of light Fig. 14. Leaf print: exposed 10 m., 11 A.M. August 20.
transmitted through the leaf may be measured in The leaves are from sun and shade forms of Bursa
the same way by using the leaf itself in place of bursa-pastoris, Rosa sayii, Thalictrum
the epidermis alone. The time of exposure is sparsiflorum, and Machaeranthera aspera. In each
necessarily long, however, and it has been found the shade leaf prints more deeply.
practicable to obtain leaf prints by exposing the
leaf in a printing frame, upon solio paper, at the same time that the epidermis print is made. In a few
species both the upper and lower epidermis can be removed and the amount of light absorbed
determined directly by exposing the strip covered with the chlorenchym. Generally, however, this must
be computed by subtracting the sum of the per cents of reflected and transmitted light from 100 per
cent, which represents the total light.
90. Leaf and epidermis prints. In diphotic
leaves the screening effect of the lower epidermis
may be ignored. Isophotic sun leaves, i. e., those
nearly upright in position or found above light-
colored, reflecting soils, are usually strongly
illuminated on both sides, and the absorbed light
can be obtained only by measuring the screening
effect of both epiderms. Shade leaves and
submerged leaves often contain chloroplasts in
the epidermis, and the above method can not be
applied to them. In fact, in habitats where the
light is quite diffuse, practically all incident light
is absorbed. The rare exceptions are those shade
leaves with a distinct bloom. In addition to their
use in obtaining the amount of light absorbed,
both leaf and epidermis prints are extremely
interesting for the direct comparison of light
relations in the leaves of species belonging to
different habitats. The relative screening value of
the upper and lower epidermis, or of the
corresponding epiderms of two ecads or two
species, is readily ascertained by exposing the two
side by side in sunshine, over the slit in the
photometer. For leaf prints fresh leaves are
desirable, though nearly the same results can be
obtained from leaves dried under pressure. The
leaves are grouped as desired on the glass of a
printing frame, and covered with a sheet of solio.
They are then exposed to full sunlight, preferably
at meridian, and the prints evaluated by means of
Fig. 15. Leaf print: exposure as before. Sun and the multiple standard. This method is especially
shade leaves of Achillea lanulosa, Capnoides useful in the comparison of ecads of one species.
aureum, Antennaria umbrinella, Galium boreale, These differences due to transmitted light are
and Potentilla propinqua. very graphic, and can easily be preserved by
“toning” the print in the usual way.
Expression of Results
91. Light records. The actual photographic records obtained by photometer and selagraph can at
most be kept but a few months, unless they are toned or fixed. “Toning” modifies the color of the
exposure materially, and changes its intensity so that it can not be compared with readings not fixed. It
would involve a great deal of inconvenience to make all comparisons by means of toned strips and
standard, even if it were not for the fact that it is practically impossible to obtain exactly the same shade
in lots toned at different times. The field record, if carefully and neatly made, may well take the place of
a permanent one. The form is the following:
Day Hour Formation Station Altitude Exposure Group Height No. Length Standard Light Base Reflected Transm
of value value light light
exposure
14/9/04 12:00 Spruce Milky 2600 m. N.E. 20° Opulaster 1 foot 2:10 160 s. 3s .019
M. Way
„ 12:05 Spruce Moss 2500 m. Level Streptopus „ 2:12 240 s. 3 s. .012
P.M. Glen
„ 12:15 Brook b’nk Grotto 2500 m. E. 3° Filix Surface 2:13 360 s. 3 s. .008
P.M.
92. Light sums, means, and curves. Owing to the fact that the selagraph has not yet been used in
the field, no endeavor has been made to determine the light value for every hour of the day in different
habitats. Consequently there has been no attempt to compute light sums and means. Photometer
readings have sufficed to interpret the effect of light in the structure of the formation, and of the
individual, but they have not been sufficiently frequent for use in ascertaining sums and means. The
latter are much less valuable than the extremes, especially when the relative duration of these is
indicated. Means, however, are readily obtained from the continuous records. Light sums are probably
impracticable, as the factor is not one that can be expressed in absolute terms. The various kinds and
combinations of light curves are essentially the same as for humidity. The level curve through a series of
habitats is the most illuminating, but the day curve of hour variations is of considerable value. The curve
of daily duration, based upon full sunlight, is also of especial importance for plants, and stations which
receive both sun and shade during the day.
TEMPERATURE
93. In consequence of its indirect action, temperature does not have a striking effect upon the form
and structure of the plant, as is the case with water and light. Notwithstanding, it is a factor of
fundamental importance. This is especially evident in the character and distribution of vegetation. It is
also seen in the germination and growth of plants, in the length of season, and in the important
influence of temperature upon humidity, and hence upon water-content. Because of its intimate relation
with the comfort of mankind, the determination of temperature values has received more attention than
that of any other factor, and excellent simple and recording instruments are numerous. For plants, it is
also necessary to employ instruments for measuring soil temperatures. The latter unquestionably have
much less meaning for the plant than the temperatures of the air, but they have a direct influence upon
the imbibition of water, and upon germination.
Thermometers
Readings
Expression of Results
101. Temperature records. Neither field nor permanent form is required for thermographic
records, other than the record sheet itself, which contains all the necessary information in a fairly
convenient form. Although the temperature of a particular hour and day can not be read at a mere
glance, it can be obtained so easily that it is a waste of time to make a tabular copy of each record
sheet. For thermometer readings, either single or in series, the following form is used: