SMU 



SMU 



393 



is caused by insects, though he had 

 been of that opinion ; and tl.at Dr. 

 Hales has proved by experiment 

 that it cannot proceed hon^ the 

 seeds being bruised by the flail, by 

 bruising a number of grains with a 

 hammer, whicli grew well after- 

 wards, and bore sound ears. The 

 same excellent reasoner refutes 

 the opinion of those, who impute 

 smut to dung of sheep or pigeons. 



M. Aimen, M.D. has very ju- 

 diciously observed, "that the smut 

 of corn cannot derive its origin 

 from a defect in the sap, as all the 

 parts of the plant, except the ear, 

 look healthy, and there are plants 

 whose roots are perennial, which 

 appear vigorous, though their seeds 

 are smutty every year. He is of 

 opinion, that whatever weakens 

 the plant, is apt to bring on the 

 smut, and instances, as a proof of 

 this, that it is a frequent custom in 

 his country, to cut rye, as soon as 

 it spindles, for food for their cat- 

 tle ; and that this rye generally 

 produces other ears, which seldom 

 contain any but distempered grain : 

 To which he adds, that seed corn 

 which has been pricked, or run 

 through with a needle ; or which 

 is not thoroughly ripe, and that 

 which produces lateral or second 

 ears, is subject to the smut." 



He holds "that the distemper 

 proceeds from an ulcer which at- 

 tacks first the parts which sustain 

 the seeds, and afterwards spreads 

 to the rest of the flower. But 

 some will say, what is the primary 

 cause of that ulcer? In order to 

 discover it, M. Aimen examined 

 several grains of barley with a mi- 

 croscope : Some of them were big- 



ger than others : Some were very 

 hard ; and others yielded to the 

 pressure of his nail : Some were of 

 a deeper, and others of a lighter 

 colour ; some longer and others 

 rounder, than they ought to have 

 been : Their rind was somewhat 

 wrinkled in several places, where- 

 as in its natural state it is smooth : 

 And lastly, he perceived upon some 

 of them black spots, which, when 

 examined with a magnifying glass, 

 appeared to be covered with mould. 

 These grains were separated care- 

 fully, according to their several 

 conditions, and sown apart, though 

 in the same ground. Jill the moul- 

 dy grains produced smutty ears ; 

 the shrivelled and parched, and 

 those that were attacked by in- 

 sects, either did not grow at all, or 

 did not produce any sn)ut. 



" He then singled out a parcel 

 of sound grains, sowed them, and 

 some time after took them up, in 

 order to examine them again with 

 a magnifying glass. He found some 

 of them mouldy, replanted them 

 all, and observed that the mouldy 

 grains produced smutty ears. 



" M. Aimen, without pretending 

 that this is the only cause of the 

 smut of corn, concludes, from these 

 experiments, that mouldiness is a 

 cause of this distemper." 



That this philosopher has hit 

 upon the true cause of smut, seems 

 rather probable, when it is consi- 

 dered that mould is a kind of mi- 

 nute moss, and that the things 

 which most effectually kill moss 

 upon land, such as lime, &c. have 

 hitherto proved the best antidotes 

 to this distemper. 



The methods of preventing it, 



