1857.] Dwarf Pears. |27 



So mucli for my own experience; and now for my ohservations. 

 During the past few years, in visiting my neighbors, and the nurse- 

 ries in this vicinity, I have seen many beautiful specimens of the 

 Dwarf Pear, and the information I received was almost invariably 

 in their favor. Some persons observed they were nice little pets, 

 they took up but little room, thrived well with slight care, and al- 

 ways afforded a fair crop in proportion to their size. 



So far, then, as their adaptation to our soil aw^ climate is con- 

 cerned, I give my testimony in their favor, and recommend them 

 unhesitatingly for amateur culture. Thus far, they are no liumhug. 



But whether they can be cultivated profitably for a market crop, 

 is another question, and one that I am unable to answer from my 

 own experience. I rely principally upon my standard pear trees — 

 about eighty in number— planted thirteen years ago, (a few of which 

 have not yet borne fruit) for supplying me with pears for the mar- 

 ket, and intend to use the dwarfs, if they produce a surplus, for that 

 purpose also. This I have yet to test. 



I now call upon those who have had experience in the cultivation 

 of Dwarf Pears, to state whether, in their opinion, they will be prof- 

 itable to cultivate for market in this vicinity, or not, with such di- 

 rect or collateral proofs as they may be able to present. I hope the 

 Dwarfs may not be put down by the Giants without first having fair 

 play. 



. R. Buchanan. 

 Clifton, Feb. 9th, 1857. 



At a late meeting of the French Academy of Science, at Paris, Dr. 

 DoNNi presented and explained a new instrument of his invention 

 for the purpose of measuring the quantity of air required for respi- 

 ration by human beings, which he denominates a ' Pneumatometer,' 

 and which he makes use of to ascertain the condition of the luno-s 

 and the degree of injury caused to them in pulmonary diseases. 



By an extended series of experiments made on a large number of 

 subjects, the doctor finds that the average amount of air respired by 

 persons of ordinary form and good health, from the age of fifteen to 

 thirty-five years, is from 1^83 to 198 cubic inches per minute; and 

 from the ages of thirty-five to sixty years, from 122 to 153 inches— 

 the amount being largely exceeded or diminished in exceptional cases, 

 among which may be mentioned a person of extraordinary stature, 

 exhibited in London as a ' giant,' who respired 428 cubic inches, or 

 more than one-and-a-half imperial gallons of air per minute. 



