180 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



sovereignty over any and all barren and uninhabitable guano islands of the 

 ocean, which have been, or hereafter may be, discovered by citizens of the 

 United States, and which are situated so far from any continent that, ac- 

 cording to the law which governs nations, no other power can rightfully 

 exercise jurisdiction over them, and to guarantee the right of property 

 therein to the discoverer, his successor or assigns. 



Resolved, That the agricultural societies of the several States be invited 

 to concur in the foregoing, and to unite in calling upon our government at 

 Washington, and the distinguished public men now before the country, for 

 their views on this important question. 



Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be printed in the form of a cir- 

 cular, signed by the President and Secretary, and transmitted to the 

 county and State agricultural societies of the several States, to the Presi- 

 dent of the United States, and heads of departments at Washington. 



ROBERT S. LIVINGSTON, Chairman. 

 HENRY MEIGS, Secretary. 



And Whereas, On the ISth August, 18.56, Congress enacted a law 

 affording the protection embodied in said resolutions, and 



Whereas, One company called the American Guano Company, acting 

 under authority and sanction of the aforesaid law, is now in successful 

 operation, and another company, called the United States Guano Company, 

 has just 1^3en organized, upon very large deposits found upon other islands, 

 therefore, 



Resolved, That we congratulate the farmers of our country upon the 

 acquisition of such ti-easures, and that their vast value is measurably appre- 

 ciated by the government of the United States. 



[Journal of the Society of Arts, and of the Institutions in Union. London, Aug., 1858.] 



SILK FROM NEW ZEALAND. 



We extract from the Australian and Neio Zealand Gazette: " Hopes 

 are entertained of a new branch of export of a novel character. A native 

 variety of the silk worm is found in the bush here, clinging in countless 

 swarms to the shrub which forms its food. The worm is enclosed in a dark 

 colored cocoon, the exterior of which is of extraordinary toughness, and 

 encloses a quantity of yellowish silk. The staple of which, both as to fine- 

 ness and length, has been pronounced by the manufacturing houses in Glas- 

 gow, by whom it was tested, superior to that of the best European worms. 

 Reliable authority states that there is no assignable limit to the quantity to 

 be procured. A box as large as a small tea-chest was filled with them in 

 in about ten minutes ; two hours' gathering will give two pounds' weight 

 of raw silk." 



JARDIN DES PLANTS, PARIS. 



There are growing here : the Chinese oettle, said to furnish a stronger and 

 more glossy fibre than flax or hemp. It has also the oil pea, the wax tree, 

 and the varnish tree, with the insects which inhabit them. They are grow- 



