196 



Miscellanies, 



trees by the wind, was collected by the rain and thrown up into masses. 

 That this conjecture was correct, will be seen by what follows. 



Last June our respected correspondent, Mr. W. H. Blake, of Boston, 

 sent us an account of a shower of yellow matter which fell on board 

 a vessel in Pictou harbor, on a serene night in June, and was collected 

 by the bucket full and thrown overboard ; some small portions came 

 into Mr. Blake's hands, and was by him examined chemically. It was 

 found, on subjecting it to destructive distillation, to give off nitrogen and 

 ammonia, and an animal odor ; to form hydrocyanic acid by passing 

 through hydrochloric acid, and to leave a considerable amount of phos- 

 phate of lime on incineration. From these facts, Mr. Blake was in- 

 clined to infer that it might be of animal origin — perhaps the ova of 

 some insect. 



From the occurrence of these showei's always in May or June, or 

 about the time of the inflorescence of trees, we were inclined to believe 

 that they were due to the pollen of plants, while the fact that nitrogen 

 exists always in the albuminous parts of plants, served to account suffi- 

 ciently for the chemical observations of Mr. Blake. We therefo:^||bent 

 to our friend. Prof. J. M^. Bailey, both the powders of Troy and Pictou, 

 that he might examine them by his powerful microscopes. In return 

 we received the following satisfactory letter, addressed to the junior 



editor. 



West*P6int, September 22, 1841. 

 My dear Sir — I received a few days since, your letter of the 17th, 

 and its enclosures, which I hastened to subject, as you requested, to mi- 

 croscopic examination. The powder which fell at Pictou, proved to 

 be, as you suggested, of vegetable origin, being wholly composed of 

 the pollen of some species of pine. That this is its real nature, there 

 can be no doubt ; to convince you of this, I send you the following 

 comparative sketches. 



Fig. 1 



Fig. 2. 



