310 Mr. Daniell's Reply 



which I have lately met with, and which has afforded me much 

 satisfaction. Mr. Andrew Kniglit, the President of the Horticul- 

 tural Society, well known for his admirable and practical remarks 

 upon the physiology of the vegetable kingdom, has observed that 

 pine-apples, ripened in the house during- the winter, have proved 

 of great excellence. He suggests that this fruit will ripen better 

 early in the spring than in the summer months; " for," he says, 

 " this species of plant, though extremely patient of a high tem- 

 perature, is not by any means so patient of the action of very con- 

 tinued bright light as many other plants, and much less so than 

 the fig and orange tree: possibly having been formed by nature for 

 intertropical climates, its powers of life may become fatigued and 

 exhausted by the length of a bright English summer's day in high 

 temperature." — Hoi't. Trans, vol. iv. p. 548. 



Will M. Gay-Lussac yet agree with me in thinking that the 

 modification of the power of the sun's rays is largely concerned in 

 the curious effect here pointed out .'' 



But M. Gay-Lussac not only labours to overthrow the hypo- 

 thesis which I have advanced upon the radiation of heat in the 

 atmosphere, but brings forward and supports another, which is cer- 

 tainly, it must be admitted, sufficiently inconsistent with its admis- 

 sibility and truth. This is founded, it appears, upon experiments 

 of M. Flaugergues, and " comme toutes les precautions avaient ^t6 

 prises pour soustraire 1' instrument, autant que possible, aux 

 rayons rcflcchis par le sol et les objets voisins, les resultats obte- 

 nus par cet observateur paraissent mcriter toute confiance." But 

 now I must acknowledge with shame, that I have some difficulty 

 in extending to my Reviewer the courtesy which he lavishes upon 

 me. " Ces doutes," he has kindly assured me, "je les ai unique- 

 ment puises dans 1' examen des observations, et la singularite ou, 

 sil'onveut, 1' improbabilite du resultat qu'en d^duit M. Daniell, 

 n'y est entree pour rien." But prejudice, I grieve to say, at once 

 took possession of my mind upon reading the result of M. Flau- 

 gergue's researches : a result, however, which even M. Gay- 

 Lussac is compelled to designate as " fort singulier." 



" Voici en quoi ce resultat consiste." 



