198 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



cautioning the public, " that the kind cultivated 

 and exhibited in Cincinnati as ' Hovey's Perfect,' 

 and sold for the Boston Pine, is a spurious kind, 

 and was never raised by them." The point for 

 them to be satisfied on is, " Were their observa- 

 tions made from the genuine sort, and if not, who 

 practiced the imposition on them?" For this the 

 Messrs. Hovey & Co., or myself are alone respon- 

 sible. They have raised the issue of veracity and 

 made it assume a personal matter between us, and 

 they must take the consequence. It is for an im- 

 partial public to judge where the truth rests. To 

 their judgment the facts above stated are submit- 

 ted, with no fears as to the result. On the one 

 hand, they have the natural affectionate feelings 

 of devoted parents, defending their cherished off- 

 spring. On the other, the actions of one who, in 

 a pecuniary point of view would have been much 

 benefited in the sale of the accumulated stock of 

 the plants in question. Had a due regard to truth 

 and the position he was called to occupy by the 

 Society justified him in a successful effort to influ- 

 ence his colleagues to a coincidence with the views 

 of the originators ; if the caution in the advertise- 

 ment then be true, they are guilty of duplicity in 

 sending abroad for the Boston Pine what they as- 

 sert they " never raised," and making the writer 

 the innocent instrument of imposition on the com- 

 mittee and the Society, or on the other hand they 

 are guilty of publishing a falsehood on them. They 

 are of course at liberty to choose their position. 



As to the insinuations of the incompetency of the 

 committee, and the confidence cultivators may place 

 in them, I may be permitted to say, that in its selec- 

 tion it was deemed important that a part of its mem- 

 bers should consist of gentlemen who have been long 

 and extensively engaged in the practical cultivation 

 of the Strawberry, and a part who were well ac- 

 quainted with a scientific knowlege of the subject. 

 That nothing might be left unnoticed that science 

 and practice could detect. It is left with the pub- 

 lic to judge how far such a committCB would be 

 likely to commit the blunders attributed to it. 



In conclusion, I wish to correct one other error, of 

 little importance to any one but myself. I had not the 

 honor to be chairman of the committee, nor did I 

 have any hand in penning its matter. It was simply 

 to the practical matters of fact that my attention 

 was directed and the principles therefrom deducted. 

 By these I am prepared to stand. Dr. Warden's mo- 

 desty led him to put his name where mine should have 

 lieen, which I did not know until I saw it in print. 

 He is Chairman and writer of the report. I do not 

 mention this with any desire to rid myself of any of 

 the responsibilities of it, but simply because I find 

 myself unexpectedly clothed with the weight of a 

 well earned reputation of another. This, I sup- 

 posed, I had guarded against, by writing in the 

 copy I sent you, opposite the Dr's. name. Chair- 

 man, to designate to whom the credit is due. 



Hoping that you will not feel it out of place to 

 m.ake room for the above remarks in your next No. 



I remain, respectfully yours, ^. H. Ernst, Spring 

 Garden, near Cincinnati, May 28, 1848. 



Meteorology — .^. /. Downing, Esq. — Sir : I 

 observe that many of your readers ask questions, 

 through your journal, and receive answers, either 

 from yourself or a subs-criber. Perhaps this liberty 

 ought to be confided to the more legitimate ob- 

 jects of the horticulturist; and yet, I know that 

 many of your subscribers are men of science, and 

 therefore would feel interested in the questions I 

 am about to propose. Besides, without lightning, 

 thunder and rain, in the old fashioned way, many 

 a pomologist and florist would be disappointed in 

 his hopes, however little he might care about the • 

 science of meteorology, so that on second thought, 

 perhaps, you will think my inquiries come within 

 the proper scope of your journal. And now for the 

 object of this letter. 



Statements — 1. We have a railroad passing 

 through this city, on the line of which there are 

 telearaphic wires, reaching from Boston to New- 

 York, and by occasional connection to all parts of 

 the country, where this mode of communication has 

 been adopted. 



2. During the period since the erection of these 

 wires, we have had, in this part of the country, a 

 remarkable exemption froni thunder storms of all 

 grades, and especiallj^ from those appaling exhibi- 

 tions of this kind to which most parts of our coun- 

 try are subject. 



3. During the past season, 'from'winter to the 

 present time, not a single severe thunder storm has 

 occurred in this vicinity, nor have we heard thun- 

 der, or seen lightning, even at a distance, since the 

 month of June, more than two or three times. 



Inquiries — 1. Has there been any unusual ex- 

 emption from the phenomena of lightning and 

 thunder, in other parts of the country through 

 which railroads and telegraphic wires pass, since 

 their erection ? 



2. Where such wires have been erected, without 

 the rails, or the roads, without the wires, have the 

 usual number and intensity of thunder storms oc- 

 curred ? 



3. In sections of the country at a distance, say of 

 30 or 50 miles, from railroads and telegraph wires, 

 has there been observed any remarkable difference 

 with respect to the phenomena in question, within 

 the last few years ? 



Remarks. — It is a good rule, in natural philoso- 

 phy, as well as in other departments of knowledge, 

 never to form a theory until the facts on which it 

 is to be founded have been clearly ascertained ; 

 and yet, in the present case, I can hardly avoid 

 making a few suggestions in anticipation of the 

 results of the above inquiries. 



Telegraphic communications show that the elec- 

 trical aura can be sent hundreds of miles in a se- 

 cond of time ; thus proving that the wires through 

 the centre line to such distances are charged with 

 the fluid, and yet in another second, every vestige 

 of this mysterious influence may be dissipated, as is 

 shown by breaking the connection between the 

 wires and the battery. Admitting that lightning 

 and artificial electricity are identical, what pre- 

 vents that of the atmosphere from following the 



