ON VEGETATION. 375 



the air, and points out the influence that atmospheric 

 temperature and condition have upon organized 

 and unorganized bodies, though from their nature 

 not always manifested, all terrestrial substances 

 being replete with electric matter. In the case 

 here mentioned, it appears probable that the state 

 of the air induced a temporary degree of moisture 

 to arise from the earth, or to be given out by the 

 air, and that this moisture conducted the electric 

 fluid to the vegetation of the field. Experiments 

 prove that electric matter discharged into a vege- 

 table withers and destroys it ; and it appeared to 

 me at the time but I am no electrician that an 

 inferior or natural portion of this fluid, such as was 

 then circulating around, had influenced my grass in 

 a lower degree, so as not to wither, but to cause it 

 to flag and become tough, or, as they call it in some 

 counties, to u wilt ;" the farina of the grass appeared, 

 damper than is usual, by its hanging about the 

 blades of the scythes more than it commonly does ; 

 the stone removed it, as the men whetted them, 

 just at the edge, but they were soon clogged again. 

 As the thunder cleared away, the impediments 

 became less obvious, and by degrees the difficulties 

 ceased. The observance of local facts, though un- 

 important in themselves, may at times elucidate 

 perplexities, or strengthen conclusions. 



That purely rural, little noticed, and indeed 

 local occurrence, called by the country people 

 " hummings in the air," is annually to be heard in 

 one or two fields near my dwelling. About the 



