Prof. J. Le Conte on the Freezing of Vegetables. 199 
es a Sg 
James, that at Charleston Island (now called € ial Ss ) in 
Hudson’s Bay, the trees had to be thawed by fire t 
could be cut down.* I have been credibly info1 ; 
“lumberers” of Maine and New Hampshire are familiar with the 
fact, that during periods of extreme cold, the sap of many of the 
forest trees becomes so frozen, that the physical qualities of the 
wood are altered to such an extent, that it is difficult to cut tt 
with an axe. M. Duhamel observes, that the maples in Canada, 
where the frost is long and severe, begin to bleed, when wounded, 
with the first thaw, and stop again when it freezes; and that 
this, in frosty days, occurs only on the south side of the tree.t 
In all these cases, it is sufficiently obvious, that the freezing of 
the sap could not have been fatal to the life of the trees; for, in 
that event, a single severe winter would destroy every plant. 
But, perhaps, it may be granted, that the foregoing experiments 
and observations, are sufficient to prove, that the juices contained 
in the aérial or ascending stems of many plants may be frozen 
without destroying the power of vegetation; and yet, it may be 
asked, does not the complete congelation of the fluids included 
in all parts of the vegetable, comprehending the root or descend- 
ing axis and its appendages, necessarily result in the destruction 
of its vitality? Even the admission that large portions of the 
aérial stem may be frozen with impunity, impresses the character 
of error upon the commonly-received opinion among many 0 
the most eminent phytologists; but, I think, facts are not want- 
ing to show, that the juices contained in every part of some 
plants, may be congealed without injury to the powers of vege- 
tation. Although Leopold von Buch and many other philoso- 
phers, even as late as 1825, were disposed to reject the statement 
of the elder Gmelin, that the ground is perpetually frozen ‘in the 
northern parts of Siberia; yet, the fact has been abundantly 
corroborated in our days by the observations of MM. Adolph 
Erman, von Humboldt, Hansteen, Schergin and others. At the 
town of Yakutsk, in latitude 62°, M. Schergin attempted to sink 
a well and was about to abandon the project in despair of obtain- 
ing water, when Admiral Mangel persuaded him to continue his 
; “dh 
50 English feet, ‘ ‘ 18°°5 Fahr. 
ie se : be, ees 
u 
= Vide Boyle's works, vol. ii, p. 274. London, 1744. ‘ 
ya ue des Arbres, vol. ii, p. 258. es ae 
Vide Comptes Rendus de l’Acad. des Sciences, tome vi, p- 501, 1838 ws 
also von Baer, in Edinb. New Phil. Journ, vol. xxiv, p. 485, 1888.0 
