530 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 9 



quite visible in the finer formations, though little 

 seen in the coarser. Takin;^ up a piece of the lat- 

 ter, the cause of cohesion is apparently so slight, 

 that one is surprised that the mass does not crum- 

 ble at a touch. 



It is a common conjecture that the coquina is of 

 recent formation, and that causes are still operat- 

 ing to produce it. This conjecture has some ap- 

 parent and plausible grounds. It wants, howe- 

 ver, the support of deeper investigation into the 

 character and force of these causes. Fragments 

 have been constantly heaping up on the coast, por- 

 tions of which have been long lyinir in a quiescent 

 state, without exhibiting any evidences of a 

 change, or a tendency to one, particularly of a 

 change from a loose to a concrete state. The up- 

 per stratum of the quarries we have been describ- 

 ing, would be likely to assume the character of the 

 strata below, if such a change were in progress. 

 But the century, during which it has been subject 

 to observation, has witnessed no alteration. The 

 fragments all lie in a separated slate, without 

 showing any signs of cohesion. 



It has been surmised, that the animal matter of 

 the shells might have furnished the element of 

 cohesion. But this surmise would seem to be at 

 once disproved by the condition in which the 

 shells were found, when the concretion took 

 place. It is evident that they must have been 

 subjected to a long and severe process of attrition 

 and contusion, previous to that event ; such a pro- 

 cess as must have widely separated all animal 

 matter, from its former covering. Besides, there 

 is no reason for supposing, that this animal matter, 

 even if it had existed in connexion with the sheiks 

 at the time the rocky formation occurred, could 

 have produced the effect assigned to it. 



A more probable conjecture is, that the shells 

 themselves, by some chemical exertions or agen- 

 cy, which operated in connexion with their partial 

 dissolution, furnished the bond of union among the 

 fragments, though not in a way that leaves the 

 same agency still in operation. These different 

 strata are evidently so many distinct deposites, pro- 

 bably at different and distant periods; broken 

 shells thrown up or spread over a certain space, 

 and no doubt converted at equally different and 

 distant periods into solid masses, either by sudden 

 or gradually operating causes, ceasing with their 

 effect. Such a hypothesis is in harmony with our 

 notions of other formations of rock. 



There are appearances of shelly formations on 

 the St. John's, particularly the upper parts of it, 

 but the shells are of a different character. Scarce- 

 ly a bivalve is seen on or near that river, either 

 loose, or in rocky connexion. The prevailing shell 

 there, is the helix, while univalves are as rare in 

 the formations on the coast. The soil at Volusia 

 and Fort Mellon consists of half shells, which 

 are generally perfect in their shape, the defects 

 evidently arising rather from decay than abrasion 

 or contusion. 



The limestone does not shovv itself on the coast, 

 nor on the St. John's until you reach Lake Mon- 

 roe, where it is intermixed sparingly with shells. 

 On Black Creek, west of the St. John's, a porous, 

 rotten limestone appears, and this is said to be the 

 character of the rock formations throughout the 

 western part of the peninsula. Hence the many 

 "surth-holes," deep and (some of them) unfa- 

 thomable orifices in the earth, which appear in 



these regions, and the disappearance of streams 

 for many miles beneath the surface of the earth, 

 while others come forth in all their fulness at 

 once. 



The climate of Florida, during the six or seven 

 months from October is truly delicious. The 

 frosts are generally iew and slight, leaving ve- 

 getation its verdure, and fiovvers their bloom^ 

 throughout the year. Such frosts as kill the ten- 

 der trees or shrubs are of rare occurrence. Rains 

 occasionally prevail during the winter months, but 

 more commonly during the latter part of summer. 

 Our troops have now been operating during three 

 winters. Two of them have been decidedly dry. 

 The first was rainy. 



By a loose diary, kept in Florida, since the last 

 October (1837) and continued through two hun- 

 dred and fourteen days, more than one hundred 

 and fifty of them, were decidedly clear and pleas- 

 ant days; about forty somewhat cloudy or foggy; 

 and about twenty rainy, but of these nearly one- 

 half were single rainy or showery days, leaving 

 only about ten which were of a rainstorm charac- 

 ter. Musquitoes have bitten, and frogs have 

 peeped throughout the whole time, though not al- 

 ways in the same numbers or with the same 

 spirit. 



It is perhaps a common impression, that there 

 are some formidable animals and many venomous 

 reptiles in Florida. The alligator is a clumsy, 

 timid animal, never, it is believed, the assailant, 

 unless it mistake a swimming boy, for its common 

 prej'. Scorpions, snakes, lizards, &c., are com- 

 mon upon the barrens, and our soldiers, in sleep- 

 ing on the ground, often came in contact with ail 

 of them, and were often stung by the former, ge- 

 nerally with unpleasant, but never with fatal con- 

 sequences. 



Invalids have long looked to Florida as a refuge 

 from the northern winter, and during the dis- 

 turbances of the last few years, St. Augustine has 

 necessarily been the only place of resort. But 

 when peace shall be established, and the St. 

 John's re-occupied, that river will present many 

 places of great attraction to the infirm and pul- 

 monic. 



From Loudon's Gardeners' Magazine. 

 OF THK ANALOGY BETWEEN PLANTS AND 

 ANIMALS, BY J. A. W. 



Many persons buy a plant and plant it in their 

 garden, as they would purchase a piece of furni- 

 ture and place it in a room, and fancy that the one 

 requires no more afler-care than the other ; but, 

 when they understand something of the nature of 

 a plant, and of the manner in which it obtains nou- 

 rishment ; and when they perceive how cultiva- 

 tion operates on it ; they will take a degree of in- 

 terest in its growth and developement, that a per- 

 son totally ignorant of these subjects can scarcely 

 form an idea of. 



Plants are organized beings, that, like animals, 

 depend for their existence on nourishment, 

 warmth, air, and light. Their nourishment they 

 derive from the soil, their warmth and air jointly 

 from the soil and the atmosphere, and their light 

 from the sun. As all men may be presumed to 

 know something of the nature of animals, per- 

 haps the easiest way of giving some knowledge 

 of plants to those who have hitherto paid little 



