On the Study and Piir suits of Botany. 435 



Amid all the wonders which unfold themselves in the 

 great temple of nature, there are some in its arcanum which 

 we can but imperfectly comprehend or analyze. The ascen- 

 sion and circulation of sap, to perfect the growth and nutri- 

 tion of plants, has employed some of the most able minds, 

 without arriving at any satisfactory conclusions. I recollect, 

 in the month of April, 1840, that a phenomenon occurred to 

 me which attracted my attention, l^eingout one morning on 

 a ramble in my favorite pursuits,* I discovered a specimen of 

 a bird which I was desirous of obtaining perched upon the 

 loftiest summit of a white birch tree. i?etula populifolia. A 

 discharge of the gun brought down the bird, and, when stoop- 

 ing to pick up my game, I was much surprised at a contin- 

 ued shower of rain, in large drops, oozing from the bn rk of 

 the branches of a large limb just above my head : this contin- 

 uing unabated, I was forced to go from under the limb, to 

 prevent my powder being wet when re-loading. As the leaves 

 had not expanded, and the buds had just begun to germinate, 

 I took particular pains to investigate the matter, as the sky 

 was perfectly clear, and no more than ordinary dew on the 

 grass. The location of the tree was near the base of a high 

 hill, the ground very moist, and studded over with springs of 

 water. The tree on examination proved to be of a healthy 

 structure throughout, and no appearance of water dropping 

 from the limbs of any other part of the tree except the branch 

 alluded to; this, to all appearances, was sweating from every 

 twig and ramification, from the junction of the limb with the 

 main trunk to its termination. This continued for an hour, 

 and 1 left. Returning that way late in the afternoon, the 

 raining from the limb had but slightly diminished, presenting 

 nearly the same appearance as when I loft in the morning. 

 By what law this singular ascension of the aqueous fluid 

 could have taken place in a separate limb of the tree, I am 

 not able to answer, as atmospheric pressure, the epidermis of 

 the bark, are all combining obstacles to the influence of cap- 

 illary attraction, without we consider the principles of ii3'dro- 



* He is a distinguished ornitholop;i-it, and lins fiirnislied spvrrnl hundred drauliftiliy 

 prepared .specimens ol birds (rom Florida lo Maine, for ihe niuseiun of the ^aUlral His- 

 tory Society in Portland. — //. A. S. D. 



