230 



NEW ENGLAND FAR i\I E K , 



JAN. 27, 18:i6. 



^iMW 53sr<s!s>iisra> if ^sasssi^a 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, J*M. 27, 1836. 



Remarks ON THE Economy and SorRCES of Heat. 

 —The great Sir Francis Bacon, in one of his philosophi- 

 cal essays makes the following remark :— " It is certain 

 thai, of all the powers of Nature, Heal is the chief, both 

 in the frame o! Nature, and works of Art." Tliis won- 

 derful power, properly, or modification of mailer has, 

 accordingly, commanded the attention, and been made 

 the subject of the researches of philosophers and men of 

 mind in all ages and countries. But it appears to us 

 that those who have looked at the subject, with an eye 

 to economy, have, generally speaking, ]iaid less altention 

 to the great source or storehouse of heat, which the earth 

 presents, than is due to its importance. 



Dr Hutton, Dr Darwin, and others, have supposed the 

 central part of the earth to be a great mass of matter, kept 

 in a state of constant fusion, like melted metal, by heat. 

 The last mentioned philosopher says, " The variation of 

 the compass can only be accounted for by supposing the 

 central parts of the earth to consist of a fluid mass, and 

 that part of this fluid is iron, which requiring a greater 

 degree of heat to bring it to fusion than glass or other 

 metals, remains a solid ore. The vis incrlim {tcndencij to 

 remain motionless) of this fluid mass with the iron in it, 

 occasions it to perform fewer revolutions than the crust 

 of solid earth over it ; and thus, it is gradually left be- 

 hind, and the place where the floating iron resides is 

 pointed to by the direct or retrograde motion of the mag- 

 netic needle." 



We shall neither attack nor defend this theory of Dr 

 Darwin, a writer in whom the fancy of the poet some- 

 limes obtains the ascendency over the sober judgment 

 and rigid inductions of the philosopher; but seek in 

 other facis and appearances some indications of the great 

 magazine of heat, deposited in the central parts of the 

 great globe we inhabit. An Eni;lish J|(|agazine slates 

 that " at Ting-Tang copper mine, in Cornwall, 1068 feet 

 deep, the water was at the temperature of 82 deg. At 

 Huel Vartin mine, 1254 feet deep, water was 79 deg. 

 and at Poldice, 117G feet, the water was npwards of 100 

 degrees. Although the heat of water, in these instances, 

 was not in exact proportion to the depth of the mines, 

 yet its temperature in all the cases cited appears to have 

 been much higher than the mean teiri^ferature of the 

 earth at the surface in the places where these mines 

 were located. 



A writer in one of the numbers of the Brl'ish Alman- 

 ac observes, that " It is thought that heat may have been 

 the original cause of the fluidity of the earih, and that 

 there may still remain enough to keep the interior por- 

 tions in the same state. The more the subject has been 

 examined, the more evidence has accumulated in favor 

 of the position that the temperature increases as i,v,e de- 

 scend below the surface. There are numerous insij-.nces 

 in which we have been able by means of natural and 

 artificial excavations to petietrate to a depth of from 1300 

 to 1600 f?et. The general inference from all |he ohser- 

 vations made in difTerent parts of the earth is that there 

 is an increase of heal, amounting to about one degree of 

 Fah. for every 40 feet in depUi ; that at the depth of 10 - 

 000 feet the heat would be sullicient to boil waterj and 

 that at the depth of about 100 miles,, or 1.4Gth part a;f the 

 distance to the centre, the heat would be intense enough 

 «o melt most of the earths and stones that are kno-wn to 

 enter into the compositipn of the globe. Thes© facta 



and appearances have an iuiporlant bearing on the phe- 

 nomena of earthquakes and volcanoes, and open a wide 

 field of spec ulalion to the natural historian and geolo- 

 gist" It would be easy to present volumes on this sub- 

 ject, but we leave it in the able hands of Professors Sil- 

 liman, Hitchcock, and others, who are adepts in the sci- 

 ence and discoveries of G(!ology ; we shall allempl 

 nothing more than a few practical deductions from the 

 premises, which may be of use to the cultivator and 

 economist. 



We know that in some countries within the frigid 

 zone, which man is unaccountably conlented to occupy 



flIASSACHUSETTS HORTICU1.TURAI. SOCtETY. 



Satunlay, Jan. 23. 

 EXHIBITION OF FROITJ. 



Apples.— Joseph Balch, a fine Apple, of English ori- 

 gin, name not known. 



Cheever Newhall, two kinds, names unknown ; good. 



Pears —Cheever Newhall, Wilkinson Pear, past iU 

 prime, but may be considered as keeping well into De- 

 cember, fully sustaining its previous good character. 



Gen. Lyman, a fine Pear, resembling in many respects 

 the Echasserie, of Cox — stem longer and skin greener — 

 flesh melting, juicy and fine flavored — with a firm ex 



the inhabitants are obliged to burrow like bears under ^^^^^^ i^^^iure, may be reckoned with the best of the sea- 



, round for nearly one half the year ; and they would as 

 soon think of dwelling in castles in the air as in houses 

 on the earth's surface. The Eskimaux Indians conlrive 

 to make themselves comfortable in subterranean habita- 

 tions when quicksilver freezes in the open air, with no 

 other fuel than the oil which faintly illuminates their 

 dismal divcllings. And although in our climate we can 

 exist without having recourse to that ground heat, which 

 alone keeps the poor Greenlander's lamp of life alive 

 during the horrors of a polar winter, it appears to me that 

 inhabitants of our n>ilder regions might condescend to 

 make a more liberal and general use of Nature's subter- 

 ranean magazines of caloric than they generally have 

 done. It is more economical, so far as fuel is concerned, 

 as well asregaids other purposes, for poor families to 

 dwell in cellars than in garrets; and what are called 

 basement stories are more easily rendered of a comforta- 

 ble temperature, both in cqld and warm weather, than 

 more elevated apartments. 



We should think it expedient for the farmer, in build- 

 in" his dwelling-house to seek advantage from warmth 

 lre.isured in the earth by the bounty of Nature. This 

 may be done by placing his house on the south side of a 

 knoll, hill oriise of ground, with a fair exposure in front 

 to ihe sun. The back side and a part or the whole of 

 ihe ends of the building may be enclosed by the earth of 

 the hill, either in immediate contact with the walls 

 which would give the most warmth ; or a covered wayi 

 with or without sky -lights, may be left between the 

 house and the hill, which may serve as a lumber room, 

 a place to preserve vegetables from frost, and answer 

 other valuable purposes in rural economy. 



If, however, such a site for a fanner's mansion house 

 should not exactly comport wilh Ideas of gentility enter- 

 tained by Mr Cultivator or his lady, he may nevertheless 

 allow his domestic animals the benefits to be derived 

 from warmth obtained from subterranean sources. — 

 Swine, especially, are much the better for warm winter 

 '•abitations ; and if provided with warm, dry, comfortable 

 ^ „| -anly lodgings will fitten with less food, and gain 



n 1 <•..»! in winter as in summer. They are much 

 flesh as fast in ' , , ■ 



, L . c . J," ii"' clean as well as warm lodgings; 

 the better for di^ ai,. ^ , , . j Z 1u 



and if their styes are de.*^nded on three sides by the 

 earth of a knoll, or side hill against the cold winds of 

 winter, wilh some contrivance like a swinging door, 

 which will close of itself, and prevent the access of cold 

 a.t the entrance, they will thrive on but a part ol the food, 

 v»hich would be necessary to enable them to support a 

 sorry existence in opposition to the incessant attacks of 

 the pitiless elements. S^vjne and cattle intended for the 

 ahambles, if well and warmly lodged in winter, are half 

 fed, and if not made comfortable in that respect are 

 scarcely worth feeding; and attempting to fatten them is 

 like laboring to fill sieves wilh water. Wilh store ani- 

 • inals the case maybe diflrerenl,and if they are too warm- 

 )y housed, they are liable to suffer in cases of accidental 

 «ir inevitable exposure, much more than those which 

 JiaVP never been accustomed to warm lodgings. 



son. For the Committee, B. V. French. 



N. B.— The importance of the Society's meetings at 

 this season is fully compensated by the testing ol a fruit 

 described as above from Gen. Lyman, grown on the Gov. 

 Gore Place, Waltham. 



Presentation of Plate.— The Massachusetts Hor 

 ticultural Society at a meeting held the 24th Oct. voted, 

 unanimously, to award to Messrs Winsliip, of Brighton, 

 Robert Manning, of Salem, William Kenrick, of New 

 ton, M. P. Wilder, of Dorchester, and Samuel Walker, 

 of Roxbury, one piece of plate each, of the value ofjifty 

 dollars, fur their long and valuable service, and success- 

 ful exertions in advancing the interests and design of the 

 Society, by introducing valuable varielies of new fiuil 

 and flowers, and their successful cultivation of the same. 

 We understand that the awards will be presented to each 

 of the above named gentlemen, at the Society's Hall, 

 Nos. 79 and 81 Cornhill, on Saturday next, at 12 o'clock, 

 M. by the Hon. E. Vose, President of the Society. 



Farming Articles for Winter dse.— We have 

 been several times requested by many of our subscribers 

 to prepare a list of the various articles which are called 

 for, and indispensable to the farmer at this season of th< 

 year, with the current price attached to each. We hav< 

 prepared such a list, and shall publish it in one or tw( 

 weeks. 



Fatal Accident. — We learn that as Uriel Crocker 

 son of Mr Samuel Crocker, of West Barnstable, aged I!> 

 was hunting partridges on the 13th insl. his gun missn 

 fire; and taking it down to examine the lock, resting jl 

 breech against his body, it went off" while he held it ii 

 that posiiion, forcing the breech of the gun into his bow 

 to cause his death the next day. 



Robber Caught.— George Jackson, supposed to havi 

 been concerned in the robbery of the Messrs Ashleys 

 bankers, of London, was arrested in Philadelphia oi 

 Friday, 15th inst. 200L was offered for his apprehensior, 

 by the British Consul at New York. About $10,00( 

 was found in his possession. He has been brought on t< 

 New York, and placed in prison, subject to the order o 

 the British Consul. 



A cock-fight has been determined upon between ihi 

 New York and Philadelphia sportsmen. The Heralc 

 says that three purses have been made up for the occa 

 sion ; two of $10,000 and one of $'30,000. O tempora. 

 mores ! 



The Banking House and lot of the U. S. Branch Bank 

 in this city is to be sold at auction on the 22d Februarj 

 next. 



•,"In the article headed " Lucerne," in our lastnumber 

 second line from the bottom, for " It has been mowed five 

 times a year," read " It has been mowed from three U 

 five times," ^c, 



