No. 4. 



The Polar Plant of the Western Prairies. 



Ill 



From the National Intelligencer. 



The Polar Plant of the Western Prai- 

 ries—a Vegetable Compass. 



Washington, August 9th, 1842. 



Dear Sir, — Tn offering through you to 

 the National Institution, a dry-pressed spe- 

 cimen of the Polar Plant of the Western 

 prairies, it is proper that I should give a de- 

 scription of it and of its location. It is a 

 species of fern, with one large flat leaf, 

 whose plane always points to the north and 

 south. The leaf is symmetrically disposed 

 about the stalk. It attains the height of 

 from 10 to 16 inches, and it is believed that 

 it never blossoms. It is spread profusely in 

 large beds over all the Western prairies, 

 from the far north-west to the fir south-west. 

 It has been seen in the prairies of Wisconsin 

 and other regions east of the Mississippi. It 

 is never found in the forests; or, in other 

 words, out of the prairies. It has been well 

 known to the hunters and trappers of the 

 West, and to the officers of dragoons ; but I 

 believe that its existence has never (at least 

 extensively) been made known to the world. 

 Its plane is always in the plane of the me- 

 ridian, when not disturbed by high winds or 

 other external causes. The indications are 

 always most accurate in the valleys, where 

 the beds are sheltered from the winds, and 

 where the traveller finds them arranged in 

 parallel positions, faithfully pointing out the 

 direction of the meridian. The leaf is sym- 

 metrical, and thus there is nothing in its indi- 

 cations to distinguish the north from the south. 



The specimen which I send, was plucked 

 from the prairies near Fort Gibson, west of 

 Arkansas. 



That its indications are actually the same 

 wherever found, is the universal testimony 

 of all who have known of it ; and I have 

 met many who have noticed it from south of 

 FortTowson to a considerable distance north 

 of Fort Leavenworth. In many instances, 

 those who spoke of it derived their first in- 

 timation of its existence from that excellent 

 officer and capital woodsman, Captain Na- 

 than Boone, of the first regiment U. S. Dra- 

 goons, son of the celebrated Daniel Boone. 



The cause of the polarity of this curious 

 plant, yet remains to be discovered. Being 

 symmetrical in shape, or rather the weight 

 being equally distributed about the stem, it 

 is possible that its sap or fibre is so thorough- 

 ly impregnated with certain salts of iron, as 

 to be deviated, from the period of its infant 

 growth, by the action of the magnetism of 

 the earth, turning like a compass needle on 

 its stem or root, as a pivot. That it is not 

 caused by the action of light, would seem 

 probable from analogy, as vegetables acted 

 upon by light, are noted for turning their 



leaves or blossoms towards the sun, instead 

 of fnm it. At mid-day, the plane of the 

 Polar plant passes through the sun, and thus 

 it shuns the light. I have noticed it in long- 

 continued cloudy weather, and could find no 

 alteration in its position. 



As the existence of the torpedo and the 

 electrical eel exhibited the influence of elec- 

 tricity on animal life, this plant is very inte- 

 resting as showing its probable connexion 

 also with vegetable life ; thus furnishing a 

 link to supply the chain of gradation. It is 

 well known that there are many distin- 

 guished naturalists and professors of physi- 

 ology, who would go higher still, even to the 

 human frame, and predict the final discovery 

 of the intimate connexion between electri- 

 city and the operation of the nervous sys- 

 tem. Any fact connected with the action 

 of electricity or magnetism, (supposed to be 

 one and the same agent,) is now especially 

 interesting, when there are so many inge- 

 nious minds throughout the world, devoted 

 to such investigations. 



I have ascertained, to my satisfaction, that 

 this plant has been well known to trappers 

 and to many of the Indian tribes, and that 

 they have been in the habit of availing them- 

 selves (in their tours over those vast tracts) 

 of this humble but omnipresent guide, which 

 a kind Providence has sprinkled over that 

 region, and which is thus available in cloudy 

 weather, when the sun and stars are denied 

 them. Even if it is granted that it is less 

 needed by the red man, no one will deny its 

 uses to the whites, in a country destined still 

 for a long period, to be roamed by hunters, 

 traders, pioneers, and other white men. 



I will here add, that Captain Boone also 

 states, that there is spread all over the far 

 West, a certain root, called the "snake root," 

 whose juices are very grateful to quench 

 thirst, and which is found in the greatest 

 abundance in those parts of the prairies 

 which are high or dry, and most likely to be 

 deprived of water in a season of heat and 

 long drought. 



It is needless to descant upon these beau- 

 tiful and striking examples of the wise pro- 

 vision of Nature, furnishing a vegetable 

 compass and the means of quenching thirst, 

 ever ready for the wanderer, and both lo- 

 cated in a region destined, perhaps, for the 

 longest period in the history of the worlds 

 to be occupied by a roving population. 

 I am, with high respect, 

 Your obedient servant, 



Benjamin Alvord, 

 Lieutenant U. S. Army. 



To F. Markoe, Jr., Esq., 



Cor. Sec. National Institution. 



