1838] 



FARMERS* R E G I S T E R 



139 



himself— that if, is impossilile to convey to the 

 reader an idea of ihe cU'ect |)roduced on the audi- 

 ence. A remarkable lact in the escape of one ol' 

 the individuals rescued hy J>renna<i;h was, that he 

 was actually blown up the last o|H>,n shall of the 

 mine l)y the enormous force of the air, the noise 

 of which was heard at a considerable distance in 

 ilie country. The first notice to Brenna<xh of the 

 accident, was an unusual undulation of air in the 

 galleries, which made him suspect that all was not 

 right, and he took the precaution of moving near 

 to an air passage in the ddve, which he had been 

 permitted to use : he was thus enabled t() save 

 himself and his companions. At the suggestion 

 of the jiroll'ssor, a subscription was made in the 

 Section for Brennagh, which amounted to £34, 



From the same. 

 PLANTS GROWING UNDER GLASS. 



In April last, Dr. Daubeny introduced into glo- 

 bular glass vessels, their aperture being covered 

 with bladders, three several sets of plants. In 

 the first were sediim, lobelia, ^c. ; in the second, 

 primula, alchemilla, Sfc; in the third, armcria, sem- 

 pervivum, S,'c. At the end of ten days the plants 

 were healthy, and had grown. The air in the 

 jars was examined, when it was found that the 

 first had lour per cent, more oxygen than the at- 

 mosphere, the second also four per cent, more, 

 and the third one percent, more. This was the 

 •result of examination during the day, but at night 

 the excess of oxygen had disappeared. On the 

 eleventh day, the first jar contained two per cent., 

 the second and third, one per cent, excess of oxy- 

 gen. At night there was less ox3'gen than in the 

 atmosphere. On the 20;h of June, the following 

 results were obtained : in the first jar, two and a 

 half per cent., in the second jar, three and a quar- 

 ter per cent., and in the third jar, four per cent, 

 less oxygen than in atmospheric air. Some 

 experiments were then made to determine the 

 rate of success of air to the plants through the 

 bladder, and it was found that when the jars were 

 filled with oxygen, the average rale at which it 

 escaped till the internal air was like that of the 

 atmosphere, vva? eleven per cent, daily. 



ProlL'ssor Lindley then read a paper by Mr. 

 Ward on the same subject. The professor ob- 

 served, that Mr. Ward, of Wellclose Square, 

 London, had made many experiments on the sub- 

 ject of keeping plants in unvenlilated vessels, and 

 was the original proposer of the plan for preserv- 

 ing plants in this manner. The discovery of their 

 being able to be thus preserved, was of great prac- 

 tical importance, as it enabled us to bring plants 

 from foreign climates, that could in no other way 

 be introduced into this country. The paper com- 

 menced " consider the lilies how they grovv. " 

 The attention of the author was first directed to 

 this point by accident. He had placed under an in- 

 verted jar, a chrysalis, and on looking at it some 

 time after, he found a tern and a blade or two of 

 grass had grown under the jar, the sides of which 

 appeared to be covered with moisture. Taking 

 the hint, he introduced some plan's of hymeno- 

 phyllum under a jar, which grew and flourished 

 in this situation. The Messrs. Loddio-e then en- 



abled him to perform some experiments on a larger 

 scale. The plants were enclosed in ijlass cases, 

 or small green-houses, made tight with paint and 

 putty, but, of course, not hermetically sealed, and 

 were watered once in five or six weeks. From 

 his experiments, the author came to the Ibllowing 

 conclusions : First, that confining the air secured 

 a more equable temperature for plants, as its ex- 

 pansion and contraction by change of external 

 temperature, by its relation to heat in those stales, 

 prevented any great or sudden change. This was 

 'cmarkably exemplified in some plants that were 

 brought from India, which were in the course 

 ol' three months successively exposed to 20°, 

 120°, and 40*^ of Fahrenheit. The enclosed 

 plants were very li-equently found surrounded by 

 a temperature higher than the external atmo- 

 sphere. Secondly, that vascular plants required to 

 be grown in a greater quantity of air than cellular. 

 Thirdly, that the light must be fi-eely admitted. 

 Fourthly, that the enclosed air must be kept hu- 

 mid. This can be done by occasional watering, 

 provided any means of escape lor the water is al- 

 lowed, but is not necessary where the water has 

 no means of escape. Besides the advantage of ena- 

 bling us to bring plants from abroad, it would also 

 furnish to the physiological botanist the means of 

 observing those operations of nature in his study, 

 lor which, before, he had been obliged to resort to 

 the forest and the plain. As an instance, the au- 

 thor had been enabled to observe the rapid growth 

 ol' a phallits feet idus, by merely devoting to it a 

 few hours of the night. The writer concluded by 

 suggesting that this mode of preserving tropical 

 productions might be extended from the vegetable 

 to the animal kingdom. 



Professor Lindley also read a letter from the 

 Messrs. Loddijre to Mr. Ward, stating that in 

 every case in which his instructions had been at- 

 tended to, foreign plants had arrived in a state of 

 safety. 



The Rev. J. Yates read a paper on the same 

 subject. Wishing, he observed, to make an ex- 

 periment, on a large scale, which might be exhi- 

 bited at the meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion in Liverpool, a green-house, nine feet by eigh- 

 teen in dimensions, and with a southern aspect, 

 had been erected in the yard of the Mechanics' In- 

 stitute, in Mount-Street. It was stocked with fo- 

 reign plants, of all kinds, to the number of about 

 eighty species. A list of the plants, and obser- 

 vations on their condition and progress, accom- 

 panied the report. The general result of the ex- 

 riment was, that the plants had flourished perfect- 

 ly well, beinij in a vigorous and healthy slate, 

 without any extraordinary growth. Many of 

 them had flowered, and canna and some ferns 

 had ripened seed. The green-house had no flue, 

 and no provision for any artificial heat. It was 

 judged best to construct it without a flue, both as 

 least expensive, and for the purpose of trying, by 

 a fair experiment, to what extent plants might in 

 this state be kept alive, even during the severity 

 of winter, which would certainly die if fresh air 

 were more freely admitted. It was also to be ob- 

 served, that nothing had been done to prevent the 

 water from escaping through the yellow sand- 

 stone rock, on which the green-house was erected, 

 and hence it had been necessary to give the plants 

 occasionally a fresh supply of water. Mr. Yales 

 further stated, that he had also grown plants un- 



