No. 151.] 227 



Dr. Underbill (on the call of the 4th subject in the order of busi- 

 ness) said, " The subject, though perhaps new to many, has engaged 

 my mind for six years, during which time I have studiously sought 

 for a remedy. My attention was first called to the subject by a gen- 

 tleman who observed, that after a light shower all his vineyard ap- 

 peared to be in a sickly condition, an effect just the reverse from 

 what might be anticipated from rain. He thought possibly that the 

 vines had been injured by electric fluid running along the wire which 

 supported them. This reason was not satisfactory, and after s>)nie 

 observation I was satisfied that the injury was done by the gases from 

 a neighboring brick kiln. Subsequent observations confirmed this 

 opinion. The effects upon the leaves of trees and plants are much like 

 those of a severe fire; the tender and pendulous portions of the leaves 

 are turned to a red ish- brown color, and curl up as if seared by extreme 

 heat. In some instances, spots are, as it were, burned through, as if 

 strong acid had dropped upon them. The cause of this appears 

 to me to arise from the anthracite coal used in making brick. This 

 is used to facilitate their burning; in those nearest the fire only 

 three pecks is put into a thousand bricks, while those on the outside 

 contain twelve bushels per thousand. This is the case in one brick 

 yard, according to the statement made to me by the owner himself. 

 The quantity of coal may vary in different localities, but something 

 near this proportion probably exists in all cases. When the burn- 

 ing is nearly done, the coal on the outside bricks is on fire, and large 

 quantities of carbonic acid gas, sulphuretted hydrogen, carburetted 

 hydrogen, and perha])S a little phosphorated hydrogen, are evolved. 

 These gases, (particularly the last,) are the most active and injuri- 

 ous to vegetation. When the atmosphere is moist, and in foggy 

 weather with a light breeze, their eflfects are traceable for miles. In 

 some instances you will find the track of a stream from 100 yards 

 to a half a mile in width and several miles in length. If a heavy 

 rain happens at the same time, the effect is less serious; it seems to 

 wash off the injurious gas. 



" These injuries occur not only in vineyards, but are observed in 

 forest trees, shrubbery, fruit trees and vegetables. The Newtown pip- 

 pin is a great sufferer; sometimes its blossoms are destroyed, or if 

 these escape, perhaps so many leaves are ruined that not enough are 

 left to furnish sap for the proper maturity of the fruit, and the apple 

 is small and of poor flavor. I know one very large and fine orchard 

 in Westchester county which has been ruined in this manner. Nor 

 is this a solitary case; hundreds of orchards along the North River 

 have been more or less injured. 



