No, 199.] 123 



into sugar, and the sugar by an application of nitric acid, may be con- 

 verted into oxidic acid. So much for chemistry. 



We are indebted to this science more than all others, for extending 

 our knowledge beyond the most sanguine expectations of man. It 

 has enlightened us concerning the properties of hydrogen, oxygen, 

 nitrogen, and carbon, in their relations to vegetable life, the combina- 

 tion of organic and inorganic elements, that minister to the growth 

 of plants, the constitution of the atmosphere, the evaporation of water, 

 and its influence upon the growth of vegetation, the structure of plans, 

 the properties of the root, the functions of the leaf and bark, the 

 mutual transformation of fibre, starch, gum, sugar, the vegetable acid, 

 the chemical changes that take place during germination of seeds, th£ 

 forroation of the leaves, the expansion of flowers, and ripening of the 

 fruit. 



Through its wonderful agency we are destined ere long to na-vigate 

 the ocean without fuel, to warm our houses without coal or wood, to 

 light our cities without cost, and perhaps drive our plows without 

 horse, and enrich our lands without muck. 



COMMUNICATIONS TO THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE IN 

 KEFEKENCE TO THE ENDIOOTT PEAR TREE. 



Salemy September 6, 1849. 

 HEHray Meigs, Esq. 



Dear Sir — Your favor of the 20th of August was duly received, 

 and I should have replied before now, but being very busy has pre- 

 vented. 



I have copied from the appendix to the address delivered before 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society by Wm. Lincoln, in 1837, 

 some inUrc^ting matter in regard to the Endicott Pear Tree; I also 

 e^u.lose a copy of a sketch of the tree prefixed to Prof. Russell's ac- 

 count. I beg leave, however, to say that Plymouth, and not Salem, 

 as seems to be stated in the first paragraph, is the oldest town in New- 



