120 



FARMERS' REGISTER— SPONGE— HURRICANES. 



SPOKGE. 



This well known marine production has been in 

 use from very early times, and naturalists were 

 lon^ embarrassed whether to assign it a place in 

 the animal or- vegetable kingdom. JNIost authori- 

 ties now agree in putting the sponges in the low- 

 est scale of animal liji^. There lire about fifty 

 different species "of sponges, of which nine or ten 

 belong to this country. They are found in the 

 Srediterranean and those seas in warm and temper- 

 ate latitudes, diminishing iu number and becom- 

 ing of inferior qualiLy on the approfich to cold re- 

 gions. They adhere to rocks in places the least 

 exposed to the action of currents and waves, which 

 the ebbing tide does not leave uncovered. The 

 best sponges known to u-s are those which come 

 fi'om the Archipelago", where they abound iiear 

 many of the islands, whose inhabitants .may be 

 said. to subsist by the sponge-fishery, if we may 

 so call it. At the Cyclades, for instance, sponge- 

 diving forms the chief employment of the popu- 

 lation. The sea is at all times extremely clear, 

 and the experienced divers are capable of^ distin- 

 guishing fi'om the surface tlie points to which the 

 sponge is aitached belowj when an unpractised 

 eye could but dimly discern the bottom. Each 

 boat is furnished with a large stone attached to a 

 rope, and this the diver seizes in his hand on plung- 

 ■ jng head foremost from the stern. He does this in 

 order to increase the velocity of his descent; thus 

 economizing his stock of breath, as Avell as to fa- 

 cilitate his ascent when exhausted at the bottom, 

 being then quickly hauled up by his companions. 

 Few nien can remain longer than about two mi- 

 niues below; and, as the process of detaching the 

 nponge is very .tedious, three, and sometimes four 

 divers descend successively to secure a particular- 

 ly fine specimen. 



The best sponge is that which is the palest and 

 lightest, has small holes, and is soft to the touch. 

 By the old physicians, sponge was regarded as a 

 cure for a long list of maladies; this la^t is now 

 much abridged, though burned sponge,, iji which 

 fijrni only it is used, still has a place in the materia 

 medica. — Penny Magazine. 



rilE RECENT HURRICANES IN VIRGINIA. 



For tlie Fanners' Register. 



The tornado of May the 5th, of which some 

 account was published in the Farmers' Register 

 tor May, v/as without precedent in Virginia, in vi- 

 olence and de5.tructiveness, and few persons, if any, 

 could have anticipated the recurrence of a similar 

 event. But within the short time that lias since 

 passed, a much gi'cater extent of our country ha^ 

 been swept by a hurricane no less \iolent than it.s 

 forerunner, and leaving throughout its courscj a 

 scene ot destitiction seldom ])roduced by such 

 causes, except within the torrid zone. I shall not 

 attempt a minute description of any part of this 

 terrible visitation, nor to present a full statement 

 of even the important facts, which would be too 

 long for this place: but merely to furnish a concise 

 statement of the general results, by collecting and 

 condensing the various reports which have been 

 made by the newspapers. 



The effects of the tornado of May 5th, reported 

 in the May No. (page 7(53) were only a part of 

 those which were suffered in the county of Piince 



George^ Similar scenes were presented through- 

 out the course of' the whirlwind, of about seventy 

 miles ill length, from its commencement in Lunen- 

 burg, to its termination in Prince George. For- 

 tunately, ils track wafe narrow, seldom being half 

 a mile wide — but yet wide enough to leave many 

 a farm a mass, of ruins-. .The greatest loss was 

 sustained in Nottoway. • An ofFicial report from a 

 committee- appointed to estimate the losses in that 

 comity, states that between seventy and eighty 

 house's wei'c blown down, three persons killed,, and 

 many seriously hurt, besides the almost total de- 

 struction of the large standing timber every where 

 in llie course of the whirlwind. The damage to 

 life and property in Dinwiddle, at one place, (the 

 residence of Mr. Boisseau, near Petersburg,) was 

 gi-eater than on any otlier one farm. 



On tiie same evening (May 5th) there was ano- 

 ther Vvdiirlmnd which passed, through Ca-roline 

 count}'', (separated from the other by a distance of 

 more than sixty miles,) and which was nearly as 

 violent and destructive within the narrower limits 

 to which it was confined. . - 



But these disasters were exceeded in magnitude 

 and extent by another storm which occurred on 

 June the 4th. This commenced its ravages west 

 of the Blue Ridge mountains, and spread in dif- 

 ferent "si rcakg through the lower country. In 

 Rockbridge county, the wind was not very vio- 

 lent; but equal destruction, at least, was caused 

 by hail, not less unusual in size and fjuantity. The 

 folloANang is the statement of the Lexington Union 

 of June 7th. 



"On Wednesday evening last a portion of this 

 county [Rockbridge] was visited by a storm of 

 wind .and hail more extensive and destructive in 

 its progress than any storm of the like kind within 

 the memoiy of our oldest citizens. Between 2 and 

 .3 o'clock, the sky in the north and north-east 

 assumed a dark and threatening aspect; distinct 

 masses of black and angry clouds whirling and tos- 

 sed by counter, currents of wind, were seen in 

 every direction except in the south, where a serene 

 blue sky prevailed. In about 20 or .30 minutes they 

 congregated near the western end of the Jump 

 mountains where they, commenced discharging 

 their contents of hail. Immediately a north- 

 wester sprang up, which difiused and drove the 

 clouds down Carr's creek, the southern border pass- 

 ing nearly over this place, and extenthng in breadth 

 to the neighborhood of "Timberridge church, a 

 distance of six miles. The cloud continued its 

 progress down the north river and across the upper 

 part .of Timberridge to theSouth mountainj ravag- 

 ing a district of country of about 18 miles m length 

 and 6 in breadth. 



We have conversed with a number of highly 

 respectable citizens from the region of this stoiTn, 

 ivho give most melancholy accounte of" the injuiy 

 which has resulted from tt.. The crops of rye are 

 said to be totally destroyed — so that in place of 

 reserving tliem for the sickle," they have been given 

 •up to the beasts of the field. The wheat crops are 

 not so fatally injured — but in very many places 

 have been abaiidoned, and stock tui'ned in upon 

 them. The corn crops have also- suffered ' very 

 seriouvsly. -.Several farmers have told us that they 

 have seen large fields of grain with fewer stalks 

 standing than is sometimes observed after reaping 

 in harvest, and tiiat the stalks are not barely beaten 

 down, but are shattered and broken. Numerous 



