ftuschenberger.] lUo [Nov. 6, 



deportment, having dark hair well sprinkled with gray, and soft, 

 sleepy eyes. He played the violin and sang well ; but never in 

 company or in the presence of strangers, because such perform- 

 ance or display seemed to him inconsistent with the dignity of 

 a gentleman. 



That those personal characteristics noted in this paper which 

 are ascribable to heredity may be apparent, a summary of the 

 bride's history seems desirable. It is conjectured that the 

 female organism possesses even more genetic energy than the 

 male — that the child is indebted to the mother as much at least 

 as to the father for its engendered qualities. A distinguished 

 botanist has observed that only the highest t}^pes of vitality 

 in plants take the female form. " The law in this instance," 

 he ssljs, " seems clear, that with a weakened vitality comes an 

 increased power to bear male flowers, and tbat only under 

 the highest condition of vegetative vigor are female flowers 

 produced."* He conjectures that this law of the vegetal also 

 prevails in the animal world. 



Hannah Blythe was the youngest daughter of James Blythe, 

 native of Glasgow, but a resident of Londonder^, and his wife 

 Bessie, a daughter of James Bell, an English citizen of London- 

 deny. 



James Blythe was a publisher and stationer. He founded, in 

 1772, the Londonderry Journal, the first tri-weekly paper printed 

 in the north of Ireland. It became a daily and is still published. 

 No evidence of his right to this honor is recorded in it because, 

 believing himself suspected of opposition to the government, 

 and desiring to obtain the patronage of both political parties, 

 he considered it expedient that his partner, a Mr. Douglas, who 

 was a printer, should publicly appear to be the sole proprietor 

 and editor. This is the reason assigned why his name was not re- 

 corded in connection with the enterprise. The paper was printed 

 and issued from the house in which he lived. His daughter, Mrs. 

 Ramsay, who died at the advanced age of ninety-two years, 

 often mentioned among the reminiscences of her early childhood 

 the gathering of a crowd reading a placard on the front of their 

 house, headed, " Bloody News From America," announcing the 



*On the sexes of plants. By Thomas Median, of Qermantown, Philadelphia. 

 Proc. Amor. Assoc, for the Advancement of Science. Salem Meeting, August, 

 1869, vol. IS, pp. 23G-260. 



