FOREIGN NOTICES. 



93 



king any in([uiry amongst the peasantry here ; every 

 one is making money out of the hill (the publican 

 more than anybody,) and therefore they keep quiet. 

 I peeped into the premises, which consist of a nice 

 cottage, with twobi-ick-built and well roofed sheds, 

 about 30 feet long each. The bank of loam is a- 

 bout 15 feet deep, and although they have sent off 

 many hundred tons they have not gone more than 

 from 40 to 50 feet into the hill, and the same in 

 breadth. It appears to be very solid and very 

 dry, so that the further drying it on the hot plates 

 occupies but little time; any one could get this 

 loam a year ago for 3s. 6d. a single cart-load, and 

 7s. for a double cart-load, but now they do not 

 want to see a stranger there at all. I was told 

 that Mr. So-and-So was very poor 12 months ago, 

 but now he is rich, and keeps his horse and chaise, 

 many weeks obtaining 50/. for what costs him little 

 in its manufacture. It is reported that he is very 

 liberal to certain gentlemen, whose duty it is " to 

 look about ;" half-a-crown now and then makes 

 them inform inquirers that this extraordinary stuff 

 all goes abroad. Some is sent to a railway station 

 about a mile off; some to Chelsea or Pimlico, 

 some to Bermondsey, &c. I am afraid I shall be 

 thought remiss for not seeing the M"orks that were 

 going on; but I remembered the story of the High- 

 land guager and illicit still, " Did anybody see you 

 come in?" " No." " Then (drawing his dirk) I 

 am d — d if anybody will see you gang ut." If gar- 

 deners will continue to purchase guano of any one. 

 except agents duly authorised by the importers, 

 they must expect to pay through the nose for that 

 which they have already too much of. Dulwich, 



May 20. lb. 



Transmutation of Species. — To some of the 

 readers of the Gardeners' Chronicle, who may feel 

 interested in this marvellous doctrine, the follow- 

 ing remarks will probably be acceptable. They 

 are taken from a little work, by Professor Whe- 

 well, entitled " Indications of the Creator," and 

 evidently designed as a reply to the startling 

 views propounded some years ago in " Vestiges 

 of the Natural History of Creation." To the 

 questions, " In what manner do species which 

 were not, begin to be ?" and " How we are to 

 recognise the species which were originally crea- 

 ted distinct ?" Dr. Whewell observes, " the most 

 remarkable point in the attempts to answer these 

 and the like is the controversy between the advo- 

 cates and opponents of the doctrine of the trans- 

 mutation of species. This question is, even from 

 its phj-siological import, one of great interest; 

 and the interest is much enhanced by our geolo- 

 gical researches, which again bring the question 

 before us in a startling form, and on a gigantic 

 scale. We shall, therefore, briefly state the point 

 at issue. We see that animals and plants may, 

 by the influence of breeding, and of external 

 agents operating upon their constitution, be 

 greatly modified, so as to give rise to varieties 

 and races different from what before existed. 



How different, for instance, is one kind and breed 

 of dog from another ! The question then is, whe- 

 ther organised beings can by the mere working 

 of external causes, pass from one type of one spe- 

 cies to that of another ? Whether the ourang- 

 outang may, by the power of external circum- 

 stances be brought within the circle of the human 

 species ? And the dilemma in which we are 

 placed is this: that if species are not thus inter- 

 changeable, we must suppose the fluctuations of 

 which each species is capable, and which are ap- 

 parently indefinite, to be bounded by rigorous 

 limits; whereas, if we allow such a transmuta- 

 tion of species, we abandon that belief in the 

 adaptation of the structure of every creature to 

 its destined mode of being, which not only most 

 persons would give up with repugnance, but whi(;h 

 has constantly and irresistibly impressed itself on 

 the minds of the best naturalists as the true view 

 of the order of the world. The question of the 

 limited or unlimited extent of the modifications of 

 animals and plants has received full and careful 

 consideration from eminent physiologists ; and in 

 their opinions we find an indisputable preponder- 

 ance to that decision which rejects the transmuta- 

 tion of species, and which accepts the former side 

 of the dilemma; namely, that the changes of 

 which each species is susceptible, though ditficult 

 to define in words, are limited in fact. It may be 

 considered, then, as determined by the overbalance 

 of physiological authority, that there is a capacity 

 in all species to accommodate themselves, to a 

 certain extent to a change of external circum- 

 stances; this extent varying greatly according to 

 the species. There may thus arise changes of 

 appearance or structure, and some of these chan- 

 ges are transmissible to the offspring; but the 

 mutations thus superinduced are governed by con- 

 stant laws, and confined within certain limits. 

 Indefinite divergence from the original type is not 

 possible, and the extreme limit of possible varia- 

 tion may usually be reached in a short period of 

 time; in short, species have a real existence in 

 nature, and a transmutation from one to another 

 does not exist." lb. 



Moral Influence of Gardening. — If there 

 were any doubt as to the influence of gardening 

 on the minds and general habits of the working 

 classes, the simple fact, that the clergy of all 

 denominations are foremost in the ranks of its 

 patrons and promoters, should convince us of 

 its beneficial tendency; but a transitory glance 

 at the inmates of a cottage where the garden 

 is neatly cultivated, is enough to show that the 

 concomitants of industry — comfort and pru- 

 dence — reign over the affairs of the place. In 

 a work, which we hardly recollect the sub- 

 ject of, there was almost a sermon compris- 

 ed in a single sentence. It is strongly im- 

 pressed on our memory, and is pertinent to the 

 matter here. The author says: — 'Gardening 



