MR. BERKELEY ON THE POTATO MURRAIN. 1 1 



author for an abstract of his paper, which he sent me with his 

 accustomed kindness. The disease was not observed when the 

 potatoes Avere harvested, but appeared towards the end of the 

 year. M. Desmazieres considers it as certain that the malady 

 was identical with that of 1845. As however he had no oppor- 

 tunity of examining all the appearances presented by the disease, 

 and no traces of the peculiar mould which uniformly accom- 

 panies it, at least before the putrescence of the tubers was 

 visible, though other fungi were very abundant, this case per- 

 haps may not be thought quite so convincing as the former ; or 

 at least it may, with all deference to the excellent author, be 

 surmised that it was greatly modified by the presence of a dis- 

 tinct disease in company with it. 



Mr. J. E. Teschemacher,* in a letter to Mr. Colman, the 

 Agricultural Commissioner from the State of Massachusetts, 

 attributes the potato disease of 1844 to a fungus. This opinion 

 was, I believe, more fully stated in a Memoir published at Boston, 

 by the same author, for which Dr. Morren, in a letter dated 

 October 25, refers me to the official reports of the United States, 

 but to which, unfortunately, I have no access. Mr. Teschema- 

 cher indeed compares the fungus to the smut in corn ; but taking 

 other documents into consideration, it does not appear that this 

 is to be interpreted rigidly. The disease, beyond all doubt, was 

 very prevalent in Canada and the adjoining parts of the United 

 States in 1844.t 



The best account of the disease of Canada in 1844 is in a 

 letter to Dr. Bellingham, which was read by him before *the 

 Dublin Natural History Society on the 14th of November, 

 1845, and published, together with much important matter from 

 himself and Mr. W. Andrews, in 'Saunders's News Letter' of 

 November 17 : — 



" During the months of July and August we had repeated 

 and heavy showers, with oppressive heat, and an atmosphere 

 strongly charged with electricity. Towards the close of the 

 month of Augus't I observed the leaves to be marked with black 

 spots, as if ink had been sprinkled over them. They began to 

 wither, emitting a peculiar offensive odour ; and before a fort- 

 night, the field which had been singularly luxuriant and almost 

 rank became arid and dried up, as if by a severe frost. I had 

 the potatoes dug out during the month of September, when 

 about two-thirds were either positively rotten, partially decayed 

 and swarming with worms, or spotted with brownish coloured 

 patches, resembling flesh that had been frost-bitten. These parts 



* Gardener's Chronicle, 1845, p. 125. f lb., p. 648. 



