213 Miscellanies. 



According to the record of an eastern paper, the number of buildings 

 destroyed in the United States by lightning up to the first of September, 

 had been about fifty ; and of these, four fifths were barns. Several 

 houses had been struck that were not burned, while a barn so visited 

 rarely escaped. These facts, taken in connection with the destructive 

 results of the storm of the 14th on barns, and the very great loss of 

 property sustained, would seem to point out the imperative necessity of 

 securing these buildings by rods, or the owners from loss by insurance. 

 It cannot be too forcibly impressed on the mind of the farmer, who of 

 all others is most liable to suffer in this way, that the danger of losing 

 his barn is much greater than that of having his house destroyed ; and 

 that their liability to destruction by lightning is most imminent at pre- 

 cisely that period when, by the labors of the year, the greatest value is 

 accumulated in them. 



It may be mentioned here as a singular fact, that on the evening of 

 the 13th, cold and severe frost occurred at several points in the Caro- 

 linas ; indicating a remarkable departure from the ordinary meteorolo- 

 gical condition of the atmosphere at that season of the year, and possi- 

 bly having some direct connection with that state of things which gen- 

 erated such an unusual quantity of electricity at the north. W. G. 



Otisco, N. Y., January, 1841. 



17. Elementary composition of vegetable tissue. — M. Payen, has been 

 engaged in the microscopical and chemical investigation of the different 

 tissues, and has read some memoirs on the subject before the French 

 Institute. He concludes, 1. That cellulose, which constitutes the mem- 

 branes of plants, when purified from all encrusting or deposited matters, 

 is perfectly homogeneous in chemical composition throughout the whole 

 extent of the vegetable kingdom. 2. That this substance, which may 

 be represented by the formula C^^H^^O^, H^O, is isomeric with starch, 

 dextrine, and inuline. 3. That its physical properties, and doubtless 

 its nutritive qualities, are modified by the degree of aggregation ; when 

 very dense, it resists different chemical agents and the digestive powers 

 in a remarkable manner. 4. Medulline, fungine, lichenine, have no 

 existence as distinct proximate principles ; properly purified, they prove 

 to be identical with cellulose. 5. Gluten does not form a tissue, but is 

 an immediate principle, enclosed in the cells of the albumen of the 

 seeds of many Cereaiia. 6. Azotized substances accompany all vege- 

 table productions, and are found in all cells in their forming state ; but 

 they are not a constituent of the membrane of cellular tissue, nor of 

 any vegetable tissue. 7. Vegetable membrane may be thus distin- 

 guished from animal membrane : the former have a ternary composi- 

 tion, from which niti'ogen is excluded ; the latter constantly offer a qua- 

 ternary composition including nitrogen. — Vid. Ann. Sci. Nat. Aug. 1840. 



