The sensitive plant Cooke watched as he wrote

"At a slight touch all the leaflets rise and close the upper surfaces together" — M. C. Cooke, watching the Mimosa pudica on his table as he wrote
"It is by no means a slow and gradual change, but an almost instantaneous one" — M. C. Cooke, on how fast the leaflets fold
"if repeated again and again the movements become more tardy, as if debility ensued from over-exertion" — M. C. Cooke, on repeated touches, offered as a comparison rather than a claim
"Without brain, and without nervous system, that which we characterize as sensibility does not exist." — M. C. Cooke, on why sensitive plants do not feel as animals do
"we do not know" — Charles Darwin, quoted by Cooke, on why a touch makes the leaves move

as if debility ensued from over-exertion.

The sensitive plant Cooke watched as he wrote

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