LINN^US. 339 



sight of it. I feel the distress you must be under 

 with the fire. I am glad, next to your own and fa- 

 mily's safety, that you saved your papers and books. 

 By this time I hope all is settled and in order ; so 

 pray now, at your leisure, employ some expert pu- 

 pil to search into the origin of the nectarine ; who 

 are the first authors that mention how and when it 

 was first introduced into the European gardens. It 

 is strange and marvellous, that a peach should na- 

 turally produce or bear nectarines, a fruit so differ- 

 ent, as well in its exterior coat as flavour, from a 

 peach ; and yet this nectarine will produce a nec- 

 tarine from the stone, and not a peach. This re- 

 markable instance is from a tree of a nectarine 

 raised from a stone in my own garden, which last 

 autumn had several dozen of fruit on it, finely ri- 

 pened. For more particulars I refer to my last let- 

 ter. Pray tell me who Perses was, what country- 

 man, and who is the author that relates his intro- 

 ducing peaches into the European gardens ? 



" That bats as well as flies lie as dead all winter 

 is true ; but they do not change elements, and go 

 and live all that time under water. Swallows can- 

 not do it without a provision and contrivance for 

 that end, which it becomes your great abilities to 

 find out ; for it is not sufficient to assert, but to de- 

 monstrate the internal apparatus God Almighty 

 has wonderfully contrived for a flying animal, bred 

 on the land and in the air, to go volmitarily under 

 water, and live there for so many months. Besides, 

 we are not informed which species lives under wa- 

 ter, as there are four species. You, my dear friend, 

 have raised my admiration, and that of all my cu- 

 rious acquaintance ; for we never heard before that 



