The Journal of a Naturalist. ISS 



which the cultivation may be so extended as to meet every 

 demand. 



The story of Sir Walter Raleigh having first introduced 

 this useful root into Ireland, he is disposed to treat as fabu- 

 lous ; because, he says, it was not generally known in Ireland 

 until fifteen years after Sir Walter's return from his last voy- 

 age ; but, in the next page, he goes on to say that the first 

 mention made of the potato, in England, as possessing any 

 kind of virtue, was by Sir Francis Bacon, four-and-twenty 

 years after Gerarde's mention of it in 1597 (when he received 

 some of the roots from Virginia, and planted them) ; and fur- 

 ther adds, that it was not grown in gardens until forty years 

 afterwards ; nor to any extent in the field, until the middle of 

 the last century. Sir Walter Raleigh has long been considered 

 as the. first introducer of this valuable root into Ireland, where 

 it is peculiarly good and valuable; and he should not, on 

 slight grounds, be deprived of that reputation. 



But we have travelled in a circle, and returned to the spot 

 whence we started — to the Shellard's Lane Oak. Our author 

 takes this opportunity of calling to mind many of the magni- 

 ficent trees that have, at different periods, been celebrated in 

 this country. He observes that trees have the same power of 

 collecting moisture about them, in the winter, when bare of 

 leaves, as in the summer, when full-clothed ; and mentions, as 

 an instance, an ash tree which he saw dripping with water, in 

 a fog, when every thing around appeared perfectly dry. This 

 he accounts for, by considering the tree rather as a condenser 

 than an attractor. In the beginning of the present year I 

 observed a similar circumstance with regard to a jessamine, 

 which dripped with water after a morning fog, while other 

 objects remained dry. The same thing, says the writer, may 

 be observed on a post or a gate, on the side exposed to the 

 passage of the fog. To this condensing of fogs and mists, 

 causing a frequent fall of water from trees, he attributes, in a 

 great measure, the luxuriant appearance of the herbage be- 

 neath them. A variety of causes may occasionally produce 

 such luxuriance ; but it is a well-known fact, that compara- 

 tively few plants will thrive under the dripping of trees ; a fact, 

 the knowledge of which has compelled many a husbandman to 

 lop from his trees some of their finest branches. 



I am sorry so frequently to differ from this naturalist; but 

 what does he mean by saying that the " utility of the blossom 

 of flowers is by no means obvious ? " He follows up this 

 assertion by admitting its use in the preservation and perfect- 

 ing of the germen, the food it affords to multitudes of insects, 

 &c. &c. ; and is this nothing ? Not to dwell upon the many 



