192 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



per surface, and havinc: somewhat the appearance 

 of those of an evergreen hiurel or inarjnolia. Its 

 blossoms, white, tinted with pink, appear in April. 

 The fruit is apple-sliaped, warted and critt}'. It 

 is a native of Cliina; where its local name is Sha- 

 lee. It is also called in some English gardens, the 

 sand pear, or snow pear. 



There is a handsome specimen of this tree at 

 Netherwood, the interesting seat of James Lenox, 

 Esq., Dutchess county, N. Y. It is about 20 feet 

 hiirh, with an elliptical head, and its broad shining 

 foliage renders it a striking object in the pleasure 

 grounds. 



Food and Climate of the Mammoth. — It has, 

 for some time past, been a subject of speculation 

 among naturalists, how the mammoth, whose struc- 

 ture and inferred habits considerably resemble those 

 of the elephant, could have lived in a climate so far 

 north as his remains are now found. 



CuviER, and other naturalists, proposed as a so- 

 lution of the difficulty, the theory of sudden revolu- 

 tion on the earth's surface, which changed what 

 was previously a hot zone of climate into one of 

 low temperature, where this immense quadruped 

 was no longer able to exist. 



Prof. Owen, in his British FossH Mammalia, 

 has, however, we think, conclusively proved that 

 the mammoth was an animal quite differently or- 

 ganized from the existing species of elephants, and 

 entirely fitted to endure a northern winter. The 

 evidence upon which this conclusion is based, is not 

 that drawn from an examination of the skeleton, 

 which would never have satisfactorily demonstrated 

 it ; but from the inspection of the entire mammoth 

 found at the mouth of the river Lena, in a complete 

 state of preservation, imbedded in the icy clifls and 

 frozen soil of that coast. This carcass was so per- 

 fect that not only was all the flesh on the bones, in 

 every part, and the brain perfect, but the skin was 

 covered with hair, and there was a long mane on 

 the neck. The skin was about half an inch thick, 

 and when stripped from the carcass, weighed so 

 much that ten men found it diificult to carry it a 

 short distance. 



The fact that the skin of this gigantic animal 

 was well clothed with hair, and a more careful ex- 

 amination of perfect specimens of its teeth, has led 

 Prof. Owen to the conclusion that the mammoth 

 was as perfectly fitted as the reindeer and the 

 moose to exist in high northern latitudes. 



The greater complexity and dense coating of 

 enamel in the teeth of the mammoth, as compared 

 with those of the elephant, justify us, he thinks, in 

 believing that the former fed not only on the foliage 

 of trees, but that the branches of the same formed 

 a large part of his sustenance. He must have 

 been able to masticate perfectly, while his hairy 

 coat fitted him for the temperature of a northern 

 winter. .... 



Richard's Pear. — Last spring we received from 

 Syracuse, New- York, scions of a pear under this 

 name, which was represented as a new seedling 

 fruit of very high merit, surpassing in the estima- 

 tion of some persons there, the Onondaga Pear. 

 Jas. R. Lawrence, Esq., of that city has just fa- 

 vored us with a fine basket of specimens of this 



variety. In his letter which accompanies them, he 

 remarks that the variety is not known to any one 

 there ; that it is highly esteemed by all who have 

 seen it, and that he is desirous of ascertaining if it 

 is new to us. 



We were quite surprised, on opening the basket, 

 to find the Richards' pear was our old and familiar 

 acquaintance, the Summer Bon Chretien. There was 

 no mistaking its peculiarly swollen sides, or its ho- 

 nied sweet flavor. It scarcely looks well to rechristen 

 this ancient and venerable pear, which is supposed 

 to be the Regalia of Valerius Cordus ; which is so 

 well known in every country in Europe, and which is 

 described in every pomologieal work of note for the 

 last century and a half! Near the sea-board it has 

 become ratlier unproductive, and we are glad to find 

 by the specimens we received from Syracuse, that, as 

 we should have supposed, in the fine climate and soil 

 of the interior, this most ancient of pears is still 

 in perfection. But even with the large bonus of re- 

 generation in Western New- York, it must not be 

 allowed to gratify the " Richards" family by drop- 

 ping its time-honored name of Summer Bon Chre- 

 tien. 



Champagne on the Ohio. — By a letter just re- 

 ceived from our friend N. Longworth, Esq., Cin- 

 cinnati, we learn that, by the assistance of an expe- 

 rienced vigneron from Europe, he has made from the 

 last season's vintage of Catawba grapes, 6,000 bot- 

 tles of champagne, which promises to be of supe- 

 rior quality, and will be fit for use next year. 



Strawberries. — The September number of your 

 interesting periodical contains a communication 

 from Wm. R. Prince, professedly for the purpose 

 of correcting an alleged mis-statement of Mr. Ho- 

 VEY, in the August numbei of his Magazine, M'ith 

 respect to the exhibition of the Long Island Horti- 

 cultural Society in June last ; Mr. Hovey having 

 stated that at such exhibition " Hovey's Seedling 

 received the premium for three quarts, in competi- 

 tion with upwards of thirty other varieties," where- 

 as Mr. Prince alleges, that " no other kind what- 

 ever was offered in competition for the three quart 

 premium, the thirty varieties being exhibited in 

 small quantities of a pint or less as a collection, and 

 a premium was awarded to them;" further — " that 

 the case was similar at the exhibition in New- 

 York, where a premium was also awarded." Now, 

 I would ask, why was no other variety offered in 

 competition for the three quart premium ? It is 

 not to be supposed possible that Mr. Prince, who 

 claims to be the " Proprietor of the Nurseries at 

 Flushing," which are understood to be very exten- 

 sive, and have enjoyed some celebrity, (though un- 

 til the ajipearance of his advertisement in the two 

 last nmnbers of the Horticulturist, and in other 

 Journals, it was not known that he had become the 

 proprietor of the whole of them ; and who states, in 

 the communication referred to, that " he has above 

 sixty estimable varieties, more than twenty of 

 which would be pronounced superior to the Hovey, 

 where flavor was considered." and in his Catalogue, 

 issued three years since, that " the plants occupy 

 an acre of ground ;" I repeat that it cannot be con- 

 ceived possible, with such an immense collection, 



